Portable server assembly system

ABSTRACT

A portable server assembly system includes a container structure configured to be transported between data center locations, such as a shipping container. The portable server assembly system also includes a plurality of robots that are stowed in the container when being transported between data center locations, and that assemble servers when deployed at a particular data center location. In some embodiments, when a first data center location is substantially populated with servers assembled by the portable server assembly system (or another system), the portable server assembly system is re-deployed to another data center for use in assembling servers for populating the other data center.

BACKGROUND

Businesses and other organizations often conduct operations requiringsignificant computing resources. Some such organizations may maintaintheir own computing facilities, such as data centers, or may conductcomputer operations using computing resources of computing facilitiesmanaged by others, such as a service provider that manages a providernetwork comprising one or more data centers.

Often computing facilities are designed and built based on anticipateddemand for computing resources. However, actual demand may differ fromanticipated demand. This may lead to inefficiencies and/or bottle-necksat computing facilities. For example, server configurations of serversinstalled in a computing facility may be selected based on anticipateddemand for various server configurations. However, actual demand forparticular server configurations may differ from the anticipated demand.Also, as another example, support infrastructure for servers of acomputing facility may be designed and built based on anticipated demandfor such support infrastructure. However, installed serverconfigurations may differ from anticipated server configurationsresulting in over supply or under supply of support infrastructure forservers of a computing facility.

To efficiently utilize computing resources, some facility operators mayquery customers about what applications the customers plan to execute.The facility operators may then use this information to select serverconfigurations to install in a computing facility. However, actual usemay vary from planned use, and some customers may prefer to not sharesuch detailed information with facility operators for privacy reasons,strategic reasons, or various other reasons. Alternatively, facilityoperators may utilize profiling techniques to determine applications orclasses of applications being executed on servers. However, suchprofiling techniques may require access to customer applications and mayreduce customer privacy or raise other security issues.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a provider network, a top view ofa data center included in the provider network, and a server assemblysystem for custom assembling servers for the data center, according tosome embodiments.

FIGS. 2A-2C illustrates a robot autonomously assembling a custom serverusing multiple tools, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates multiple robots assembling a server in coordinationvia an assembly line process, according to some embodiments.

FIGS. 4A-C illustrate a robot removing a blanking plate from a slot of aserver mounting structure and installing a custom server in the slot,according to some embodiments.

FIG. 5A illustrates a perspective view of a robot delivering a customserver to an automated installation and retrieval system (AIRS) of adata center, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 5B illustrates a front view of a robot placing a custom server on alifting plate of an automated installation and retrieval system (AIRS)of a data center, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 5C illustrates a front view an automated installation and retrievalsystem (AIRS) installing a custom server in a slot of a server mountingstructure of a data center, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 5D illustrates a side view of a lifting device of an automatedinstallation and retrieval system (AIRS) installing a custom server in aslot of a server mounting structure of a data center, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 5E illustrates a side view of a lifting device of an automatedinstallation and retrieval system (AIRS) that has installed a customserver in a slot of a server mounting structure of a data center,according to some embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates a top view of a data center hall that includes atrack-mounted automated installation and retrieval system (AIRS) or atrack-mounted automated stocking and retrieval system (ASRS), accordingto some embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a side view of a lifting device of an automated installationand retrieval system (AIRS) or an automated stocking and retrievalsystem (ASRS), according to some embodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example user interface implemented by a serviceprovider for requesting custom servers, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example user interface implemented by a serviceprovider for requesting a custom cluster of servers, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example user interface implemented by a serviceprovider for requesting one or more already installed compute resourcesbe included in a cluster with a custom server, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 11 is a high-level flowchart illustrating various methods andtechniques for providing a near real-time custom server service,according to some embodiments.

FIG. 12 is a high-level flowchart illustrating various methods andtechniques for assembling custom servers using robots of a nearreal-time custom server service, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 13A is a perspective view of a robot of a near-real time customserver service delivering a custom server to a selected slot of a servermounting structure, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 13B is a block diagram illustrating a server placement controllerthat selects a placement location for a custom server based oninfrastructure support requirements of the custom server and capacitiesof associated server support infrastructure systems at unoccupied slotsof a server mounting structure, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 14 illustrates a front view of a server mounting structure andassociated power and network infrastructure support systems, accordingto some embodiments.

FIG. 15 illustrates a front view of a server mounting structure andassociated cooling infrastructure support systems, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 16 illustrates a top view of a data center and coupled portableserver assembly systems, wherein a server placement controller selects aplacement location based on distances from assembly locations tounoccupied slots of a server mounting structure, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 17 illustrates a top view of a data center and coupled portableserver assembly systems, wherein a server placement controller selects aplacement location for a to-be-placed server based on distances from analready placed server to unoccupied slots of a server mountingstructure, according to some embodiments.

FIGS. 18A-18C illustrate a robot making height adjustments as part ofinstalling a custom server in a server mounting structure, according tosome embodiments.

FIG. 19 is a high-level flowchart illustrating various methods andtechniques for selecting a placement location for a custom server,according to some embodiments.

FIG. 20 is a flow diagram illustrating a portable server assembly systembeing deployed and redeployed to multiple data center locations,according to some embodiments.

FIG. 21A is a top view of a data center and attached portable serverassembly system that includes a portable container comprising robots andan attached portable container comprising parts storage, according tosome embodiments.

FIG. 21B is a top view of a data center and attached portable serverassembly system that includes a portable container comprising robots anddifferent parts storage arrangements, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 22 is a side view of an interior of a container of a portableserver assembly system, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 23 is a high-level flowchart illustrating various methods andtechniques for deployment and re-deployment of a portable serverassembly system, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 24 illustrates a block diagram of a server assembly controller of aprovider network, a top view of a data center that included in theprovider network, and a server assembly system for custom assemblingservers for the data center, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 25 is a high-level flowchart illustrating various methods andtechniques for selecting custom server configurations based on trends inserver utilization metadata, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 26 is a high-level flowchart illustrating various methods andtechniques for determining associations between server utilizationtrends and application classes, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 27 is a high-level flowchart illustrating various methods andtechniques for determining associations between trends in robotcalibration, server assembly processes, server validation processes andresulting failures, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 28 is a high-level flowchart illustrating various methods andtechniques for determining whether to relocate a workload from anexisting server to a custom server, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 29 is a block diagram illustrating an example computing system,according to some embodiments.

While embodiments are described herein by way of example for severalembodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art willrecognize that the embodiments are not limited to the embodiments ordrawings described. It should be understood, that the drawings anddetailed description thereto are not intended to limit embodiments tothe particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is tocover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within thespirit and scope as defined by the appended claims. The headings usedherein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be usedto limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used throughoutthis application, the word “may” is used in a permissive sense (i.e.,meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e.,meaning must). Similarly, the words “include”, “including”, and“includes” mean including, but not limited to.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The systems and methods described herein implement a near real-timecustom server system, a custom server placement system, a portableserver assembly system, and a server configuration selection system,according to various embodiments. It should be noted that the varioussystems described herein may be used either separately, in someembodiments, or in combination with other ones of the systems describedherein in some embodiments.

In some embodiments, a system includes a data center comprising a servermounting structure and a plurality of robots. The server mountingstructure comprises a plurality of slots configured to acceptinstallation of servers and the plurality of robots are configured tocustom assemble servers to be installed in the slots of the servermounting structure of the data center. The system also includes aprovider network comprising a server assembly controller. The serverassembly controller is configured to receive a request for a customassembled server, cause one or more of the robots located at the datacenter to custom assemble the custom assembled server, and causeinstallation of the custom assembled server in an unoccupied slot of theserver mounting structure. For custom assembled server types requestedin lower volumes, the custom assembled servers may be assembledautonomously by respective ones of the robots; and for custom assembledserver types requested in higher volumes, the custom assembled serversmay be assembled by respective groups of robots working in coordinationwith one another, for example via an assembly line.

In some embodiments, a method includes receiving a request for a customassembled server, assembling the custom assembled server at a datacenter using one or more robots located at the data center, installingthe custom assembled server in an unoccupied slot of a server mountingstructure at the data center, and making the custom assembled serveravailable to execute one or more workloads on behalf of a requestor ofthe custom assembled server. For custom assembled server types requestedin lower volumes, a custom assembled server may be assembledautonomously by respective ones of the robots; and for custom assembledserver types requested in higher volumes, a custom assembled server maybe assembled by respective groups of robots working in coordination withone another, for example via an assembly line.

In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storesprogram instructions, that when executed by one or more processors,cause the one or more processors to: receive a request for a customassembled server; cause one or more robots to assemble the customassembled server at a data center; cause installation of the customassembled server in an unoccupied slot of a server mounting structure atthe data center; and initiate one or more configuration changes to makethe custom assembled server available to execute one or more workloadson behalf of a requestor of the custom assembled server. For customassembled server types requested in lower volumes, a custom assembledserver may be assembled autonomously by respective ones of the robots;and for custom assembled server types requested in higher volumes, acustom assembled server may be assembled by respective groups of robotsworking in coordination with one another, for example via an assemblyline.

In some embodiments, a data center includes a server mounting structurecomprising a plurality of slots configured to accept installation of aserver and one or more server support infrastructure systems configuredto provide power support, networking support, or cooling support torespective servers mounted in the slots of the server mountingstructure. The data center also includes one or more assembly robotsconfigured to custom assemble servers and a server placement controllerconfigured to select, for a custom assembled server, a particular slotof the plurality of slots of the server mounting structure forinstallation, based, at least in part, on support infrastructurerequirements of the custom assembled server and available supportinfrastructure capacity at respective unoccupied ones of the pluralityof slots of the server mounting structure.

In some embodiments, a method includes selecting a particular slot of aplurality of slots of a server mounting structure at a data centerlocation for installation of a custom assembled server, assembled at thedata center location, wherein the particular slot is selected based, atleast in part, on support infrastructure requirements of the customassembled server and available support infrastructure capacity atrespective unoccupied ones of the plurality of slots of the servermounting structure. The method further includes causing the customassembled server to be installed in the particular slot via one or morerobots located at the data center location.

In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storesprogram instructions, that when executed by one or more processors,cause the one or more processors to select a particular slot of aplurality of slots of a server mounting structure for installation of acustom assembled server, wherein the particular slot is selected based,at least in part, support infrastructure requirements of the customassembled server and available support infrastructure capacity atrespective unoccupied ones of the plurality of slots of the servermounting structure. The program instructions, when executed by the oneor more processors, further cause the one or more processors to causethe custom assembled server to be installed in the particular slot viaone or more robots.

In some embodiments, a system includes a data center that includes aserver mounting structure comprising a plurality of slots configured toaccept installation of a server and the system also includes a portableserver assembly system. The portable server assembly system includes acontainer positioned proximate to the data center and a plurality ofrobots configured to custom assemble servers to be installed in theslots of the server mounting structure. Additionally, the container isconfigured to stow the plurality of robots for relocation of theportable server assembly system to another data center.

In some embodiments, a portable server assembly system includes acontainer structure configured to be transported from a first datacenter location to another data center location and a plurality ofrobots configured to custom assemble servers to be installed at thefirst data center location or the other data center location, whereinthe container structure is configured to stow the plurality of robotsfor relocation of the portable server assembly system from the firstdata center location to the other data center location.

In some embodiments, a method includes positioning a container of aportable server assembly system at a data center location and assemblingcustom assembled servers at the data center location via one or morerobots of the portable server assembly system, wherein the one or morerobots are stored in the container of the portable server assemblysystem when transporting the portable server assembly system to or fromthe data center location.

In some embodiments, a system includes servers mounted in a servermounting structure of a data center and one or more robots configured tocustom assemble additional servers to be installed in unoccupied slotsof the server mounting structure of the data center. The system alsoincludes a server assembly controller configured to: identify trends inserver utilization metadata for the servers mounted in the servermounting structure, wherein the server assembly controller identifiesthe trends in the server utilization metadata without access toapplications being executed on the servers; determine a particularapplication class for an application being executed on one or more ofthe servers based, at least in part, on the identified trends in theserver utilization metadata; and cause the one or more robots to customassemble an additional server having a server configuration tailored forthe particular application class. Also, the one or more robots arefurther configured to cause the additional server to be installed in oneof the unoccupied slots of the server mounting structure.

In some embodiments, a method includes identifying trends in serverutilization metadata for servers mounted in a data center, wherein thetrends in the server utilization metadata are identified without accessto applications being executed on the servers; determining a particularapplication class for an application being executed on one or more ofthe servers based, at least in part, on the identified trends in theserver utilization metadata; and causing one or more robots at the datacenter to custom assemble an additional server having a serverconfiguration tailored for the particular application class.

In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer readable medium storesprogram instructions, that when executed by one or more processors,cause the one or more processors to: identify trends in serverutilization metadata for servers, wherein the trends in the serverutilization metadata are identified without access to applications beingexecuted on the servers; determine a particular application class for anapplication being executed on one or more of the servers based, at leastin part, on the identified trends in the server utilization metadata;and cause one or more robots to custom assemble an additional serverhaving a server configuration tailored for the particular applicationclass.

Some data center operators may build data centers and install computingdevices in the data centers, such as servers, based on an anticipatedlevel of demand for various types of computing requirements that willneed to be met by the installed computing devices. However, for variousreasons, such as changes in computer technology, changes in customerdemand, or for various other reasons, actual computing requirements forthe installed computing devices may deviate from the forecast computingrequirements. In the case where actual computing requirements are lessthan forecast computing requirements, installed computing devices may beinefficiently used. For example, a computing device with a givenprocessor capacity, a given memory capacity, a given a storage capacity,etc. may be used to perform tasks that do not require the full capacityof the computing device. Conversely, in the case where actual computingrequirements for the installed computing devices are greater thanforecast computing requirements, installed computing devices may lacksufficient capacity to perform assigned tasks or may perform assignedtasks at a slower speed than desired. Additionally, computing devicesinstalled in anticipation of demand may remain unused for considerableperiods of time until demand rises to a level necessitating use.

In some embodiments, a near real-time custom server system (eitherstationary or portable) may reduce inefficiencies and capacitybottlenecks by allowing computing devices to be assembled in nearreal-time when demand is better defined. For example, in someembodiments, a client of a provider network may request a custom serverand one or more robots at a data center of the provider network mayassemble the custom server according to configuration requirementsspecified by the client. This may be done in near real-time, for examplewithin a matter of minutes of the requestor placing the request. In someembodiments, the client making the request, e.g. the requestor, may bean external client of a provider network or service provider, or may bean internal client, such as another service of a service provider.Additionally, the one or more robots or another device may install thecustom assembled server in an unoccupied slot of a server mountingstructure at the data center of the provider network. Additionally, amanager of a provider network may perform one or more configurationoperations to make the installed custom server available to performworkloads on behalf of the requestor. Installation of the customassembled server and the making of the custom assembled server availableto perform workloads may also be performed in near real-time in responseto a request for a custom assembled server.

In some embodiments, a server assembly controller may determine a customtailored server configuration based on an application class of anapplication to be executed by the custom assembled server. For example,for an application with high processing requirements, a server assemblycontroller may select a custom server configuration with more processorsthan other server configurations. As another example, for an applicationwith high memory utilization, a server assembly controller may select acustom server configuration with more memory devices than other serverconfigurations. In some embodiments, a server assembly controller, whichmay include a server configuration selection system, may determineapplication classes without accessing underlying applications. Theserver assembly controller may also make such determinations withoutaccess to application data or user data associated with alreadyinstalled servers. For example, in some embodiments, a server assemblycontroller may identify trends in high level utilization data such aspower consumption data and memory utilization data without accessingunderlying applications being executed on installed servers. Based onthe identified trends in the high-level utilization data, the serverassembly controller may determine an application class of an applicationbeing executed on an installed server and may further determine a customserver configuration that is tailored for the particular applicationclass to provide optimum performance while minimizing wasted resources,e.g. an efficient custom server configuration for the particularapplication class. The server assembly controller may then cause one ormore robots to assemble a custom server having the determinedconfiguration and further cause the assembled custom server to beinstalled in an unoccupied slot of a server mounting structure and madeavailable to execute the application corresponding to the particularapplication class.

In some embodiments, a server placement controller, may determine anoptimum or satisfactory slot for placement of a custom assembled serverbased on specific infrastructure support requirements of the customassembled server and based on infrastructure support capacities ofavailable unoccupied slots of a server mounting structure at a datacenter. For example, a processor intense server may have a higher powerand cooling requirement than a less processor intense server. As anotherexample, some servers may have greater network requirements than otherservers. In some embodiments, infrastructure support systems, such aspower, networking, cooling, etc. may be pre-installed in a data centerhall prior to the data center hall being populated with custom servers.In such embodiments, placement of custom servers having differentinfrastructure requirements may be determined by a server placementcontroller to efficiently distribute custom servers such thatinfrastructure support systems, such as power, networking, cooling, etc.meet the demands of the custom assembled servers, while minimizingwasted or stranded capacity of infrastructure support systems. Forexample, in order to avoid overloading a cooling infrastructure supportsystem, a server placement controller may spread out placement of customservers that generate large amounts of waste heat. This may preventlocalized hot spots that exceed a support infrastructure capacity of thecooling infrastructure support system. In a similar manner, customservers requiring more network support may be placed adjacent to customservers requiring fewer network connections such that a capacity of anetworking infrastructure support system is not overloaded. As anotherexample, custom servers requiring greater amount of power may be placedadjacent to, or on a same bus as, custom servers requiring smalleramounts of power. In such an arrangement, the smaller and greater powerrequirements of the custom servers sharing the same bus may at leastpartially balance each other out, such that the bus is not overloaded orunderutilized.

In some embodiments, a custom server may be logically attached toanother server such that the servers operate in a coordinated manner.For example, a cluster may include multiple servers that operate as asingle server from a perspective of a client of a service provider or invarious other coordinate manners. Additionally, some servers may performdistributed applications, wherein a set of servers including more thanone server operate together to perform tasks associated with thedistributed application. In such cases, server performance of a customserver may depend on a distance, in terms of network hops, latency,etc., from another server to which the custom server is to be attached.In such situations, a server placement controller may select anunoccupied slot for placement of the custom server such that the customserver is or can be placed adjacent (physically or in regard to networkdistance) to one or more other servers to which the custom server is tobe attached.

In some embodiments, a service provider may implement a user interfaceallowing a client of the service provider to request a custom server ora cluster comprising custom servers. In such an embodiment or in otherembodiments, a service provider may implement an application programinterface (API) allowing a client to request a custom server or clustercomprising one or more custom servers. In some embodiments, a particularservice of a service provider network may request custom servers beassembled for use by the particular service. In some embodiments, theservice may execute workloads on behalf of clients of the serviceprovider network. In some embodiments, management of custom serverrequests and installation may be automatically performed by a manager ofa service, a server assembly controller, and/or a server placementcontroller without intervention by a client of the service. For example,a computing service of a provider network that performs computeworkloads on behalf of clients may request one or more additional customservers be assembled for the compute service and may then execute clientworkloads using the assembled and installed custom servers without theclient being involved in the management of the custom servers. In otherembodiments, a client may directly specify requirements for a customserver and a server assembly controller may cause a requested customserver to be assembled in near real-time in response to the client'srequest.

In some embodiments, robots that assemble custom servers may be housedat a data center and may be available to assemble custom servers in nearreal-time. In some embodiments, robots that assemble custom servers maybe part of a portable server assembly system and may be relocatedbetween different data center locations in order to assemble customservers at the different data center locations. For example, in someembodiments costs associated with robots may be spread across multipledata centers by relocating the robots to an additional data center whenslots of a first data center are substantially occupied. In someembodiments, a portable server assembly system may include a container,such as a cargo container or other suitable type of container forstowing the assembly robots when transporting the assembly robotsbetween data center locations. Additionally, in some embodiments, acontainer of a portable server assembly system may include a portion ofthe container that stores parts to be used in assembling custom servers.In some embodiments, additional containers may be included in a portableserver assembly system to store parts to be used in assembling customservers. In some embodiments, a container of a portable server assemblysystem may include one or more conveyances, such as a conveyer belt, toassist coordinated robots that assemble custom servers via an assemblyline.

Near Real-Time Custom Server System

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a provider network, a top view ofa data center that may be included in the provider network, and a serverassembly system for custom assembling servers for the data center,according to some embodiments.

System 100 includes provider network 102 connected to network 122.Clients 124 are also connected to network 102 and may access services ofprovider network 102 via a connection over network 122. Provider network102 also includes service A 104 and service B 110, and clients 124 mayaccess service A 104 and service B 110 via network 122. In someembodiments, a provider network, such as provider network 102, mayinclude any number of services that perform tasks on behalf of clients,such as a computing service, a data storage service, a database service,a machine learning service, and various other types of services. In someembodiments, service A 104 and/or service B 110 may be a service offeredto clients 124 such as a computing service, a data storage service, adatabase service, a machine learning service, etc.

In some embodiments, services of a provider network may include aservice manager and resource hosts. For example, service A 104 includesservice manager 106 and resource hosts 108. Also, service B 110 includesservice manager 112 and resource hosts 114. In some embodiments,resource hosts and/or other computing devices that implement a serviceof a provider network may be implemented using computing devices, suchas servers, mounted in a server mounting structure of a data center. Forexample, resource hosts 108 and 114 may include servers mounted in datacenter 150.

In some embodiments, a provider network may further include a serverassembly controller configured to determine configurations for customservers and to cause one or more robots of a server assembly system toassemble custom servers having the determined configurations. Forexample, provider network 102 includes server assembly controller 116.

In some embodiments, a client of a provider network, such as one ofclients 124, may submit a request, such as request 126 or request 128,for a custom server having a specified configuration via a userinterface, such as user interface 118. Also, in some embodiments, amanager of a service of a provider network, such as one or morecomputing devices implementing manager 106 or manager 112, may send arequest for one or more custom servers to a server assembly controller,such as server assembly controller 116.

In some embodiments, as discussed in more detail below in regard to FIG.24, a server assembly controller may determine a configuration for acustomer server based on identified trends in server utilizationmetadata for already installed servers, wherein the determinedconfiguration is tailored for an application or application class of anapplication to be executed on the custom server. Furthermore, in someembodiments, a server assembly controller, such as server assemblycontroller 116, may cause one or more robots at a server assemblylocation to assemble a custom server having a particular configurationdetermined based on server utilization trends. For example, serverassembly controller 116 may cause robots 162 to assemble one or morecustom servers to be installed in server mounting structure 166 of datacenter 150 based on server utilization trends for servers already placedin mounting structure 166 of data center 150.

In some embodiments, robots may be included in a data center hall of adata center and may assemble custom servers to be installed in the datacenter hall. Also, in some embodiments robots may be included in acontainer coupled to a data center, wherein the robots assemble customservers to be installed in the data center. For example, in someembodiments, robots 162 may be included in data center 150 or may beincluded in a container coupled to data center 150. In some embodiments,a data center hall comprising robots may also include one or more partsstorage areas, such as parts storages 158 and 160. Alternatively partsstorages, such as parts storages 158 and 160 may be included in acontainer or multiple containers of a portable server assembly system.

Additionally, an assembly location may include one or more conveyances,such as conveyances 164. In some embodiments, in which robots, such asrobots 162, are included in a container coupled to a data center, thecontainer may further include a parts storage area or may couple withone or more other containers that include a parts storage area. In someembodiments, robots of a data center may autonomously assemble a customserver. For example, a robot may perform all or substantially all theassembly steps for assembling a custom server on its own. Also, in otherembodiments, a server assembly controller, such as server assemblycontroller 116, may cause one or more robots to work in coordinationwith each other to assemble a custom server. For example, parts forassembling a custom server may be placed on a conveyance, such asconveyance 164, by some robots, such as some of the robots 162, and theparts may be assembled into a custom server by a group of coordinatedrobots. For example other robots 162 may work in coordination usingconveyance 164 to assemble a custom server from parts retrieved fromparts storage 158 and parts storage 160.

In some embodiments, robots may determine amongst themselves whether ornot to assemble custom servers autonomously or in coordination. Forexample, in some embodiments, each robots of a set of robots may operateaccording to a “greedy” algorithm, wherein the greedy algorithm causesthe robot to attempt to maximize one or more performance goals. In suchembodiments, robots may communicate amongst themselves and determinethat sets of the robots can achieve better performance goal results ifworking together than separately. Conversely the set of robots maycommunicate amongst themselves and determine that individual ones of therobots can achieve better performance goal results if workingautonomously. For example, if a first robot has five custom servers toassemble using a first tool and a second tool, and another robot hasfive custom servers to assembly using the first tool and the secondtool, the first and second robot may determine that they can assemblemore custom servers in less time, if the first robot performs tasksrequiring the first tool and the second robot performs tasks requiringthe second tool. However, a third robot, that has a single custom serverto assemble using a third tool and a fourth tool, may determine that thethird robot can achieve better performance goal results by notcoordinating with the first or second robot, and instead autonomouslyassembling the custom server using the third tool and the fourth tool.

In some embodiments, a server assembly controller may determine aweighted score when deciding whether a type of custom servers are to beassembled via a set of robots working in coordination, for example viaan assembly line, or whether the type of custom servers are to beassembled via one or more robots working autonomously. In someembodiments, factors included in a weighted score may include: an amountof time until server of the particular type are needed to be in service,current tooling of robots that are available to assemble servers of theparticular type (e.g. will the robots need to change tools), the volumeof servers of the particular type that are to be assembled, etc. In someembodiments, the server assembly controller may compare the weightedscore against a threshold score and may determine to autonomouslyassemble custom servers of a particular type autonomously if theweighted score is less than the threshold, wherein if the weighted scoreis above the threshold, the server assembly controller causes a set ofrobots to assemble custom servers of the particular type incoordination.

In some embodiments, a server assembly controller may determine anautonomous assembly weighted score and a coordinated assembly weightedscore for each custom server to-be-assembled and may select to assemblethe custom server using whichever method results in the highest weightedscore. For example, in such embodiments, factors that may be consideredin determining a weighted score, such as an autonomous assembly weightedscore or a coordinated assembly weighted score, may include a cost ofswitching tooling of the robots, a time requirement for the customserver to-be-assembled, how many robots are available to assemble thecustom server to-be-assembled, how many servers of the same type as thecustom server to-be-assembled are in a queue of custom serversto-be-assembled, whether the custom server to-be-assembled is a highpriority custom server or a low-priority custom server, etc. In someembodiments, various ones of the factors described for a weighted scorethat is compared to a threshold and autonomous assembly weighted scoresand/or a coordinated assembly weighted scores may be combined or usedtogether in different combinations.

As explained in more detail below, in some embodiments, a serverassembly controller may select to cause separate robots to assembleseparate custom servers autonomously when custom server demand includeslow volumes of different custom server configurations. Also, in someembodiments, a server assembly controller, may cause a group of robotsto work in coordination with one another to assemble custom servers whendemand for custom servers includes a large volume of custom servershaving a common configuration.

Also, in some embodiments, a provider network, such as provider network102, may include a server placement controller, such as server placementcontroller 120. In some embodiments, a server placement controller mayselect an installation location for a custom server from a plurality ofavailable installation locations, e.g. unoccupied slots of a servermounting structure, based on support infrastructure requirements of thecustom server and respective capacities of support infrastructure to beprovided to the custom server at the available placement locations.

For example, data center 150 includes server mounting structures 166that include section 152 comprising filled slots, section 154 that ispartially filled such that it includes some unoccupied slots and someavailable slots, and section 156 that is empty, e.g. the slots ofsection 156 are unoccupied. A server placement controller, such asserver placement controller 120, may select a placement location for acustom server based on available support infrastructure requirements atavailable (e.g. unoccupied) slots of a server mounting structure. Forexample, filled slots of section 152 may be removed from considerationbecause they are not un-occupied slots. As a further example, for acustom server with a high power consumption requirement or a highcooling requirement, a server placement controller may select anavailable slot adjacent to an already placed server with a lower powerconsumption requirement or a lower cooling requirement. For example, aserver placement controller, such as server placement controller 120,may select a slot in section 154 that is adjacent to one or more serverswith lower power and/or cooling requirements for placement of a customserver having a high power and/or cooling requirement. Alternatively, aserver placement controller, such as server placement controller 120,may select a slot for the high power/high cooling custom server in anunoccupied section of server mounting structure 166, such as section156.

As another example, a custom server with a high network supportrequirement and a low power and/or cooling requirement may be placedadjacent to the custom server with the high power and high coolingrequirement because the infrastructure requirements of the two customservers complement each other and make efficient use of supportinfrastructure capacity at a data center, such as data center 150.

In some embodiments, sequentially assembled custom servers may beinstalled in non-sequential slots of a server mounting structure. Forexample, sequentially assembled custom servers may be installed atvarious locations in a data center (as opposed to sequential adjacentpositions) based on respective infrastructure support requirements ofthe custom servers and available infrastructure capacities at unoccupiedslots of a server mounting structure of a data center. Also, in someembodiments, custom servers may be placed in slots of a server mountingstructure of a data center such that at least some slots of the servermounting structure between adjacent installed servers remain unoccupied.For example, in the case of custom servers with high cooling supportrequirements, a blank slot may be left between two high-heat customservers such that cooling support capacity of unoccupied slots isdistributed to cool high-heat custom servers mounted in nearby slots.Server placement is described in more detail below in FIGS. 13A-13B andsubsequent figures.

FIGS. 2A-2C illustrates a robot autonomously assembling a custom serverusing multiple tools, according to some embodiments.

In some embodiments, a robot such as any of the robots described in FIG.1 or any of the other figures herein, may autonomously assemble acustomer server. For example, in FIG. 2, robot 202 initially uses tool 1(210) attached to arm 206 to grip server chassis 208 and place theserver chassis 208 on assembly structure 204, which may be a work bench,table, conveyance, or other suitable structure. Robot 202 also includescompartments for tool 1 (210), tool 2 (212), and tool 3 (214); and mayinclude other compartments for additional tools. As shown in FIG. 2B,robot 202 may change tools. For example, subsequent to placing chassis208 on assembly structure 204, robot 202 may return tool 1 (210) to thestorage compartment for tool 1 and may retrieve tool 2 (212) from thestorage compartment for tool 2. For example, tool 2 (212) may be a toolfor gripping and installing a processor to be installed in chassis 208.For example, in FIG. 2C robot 202 grips processor 216 using tool 2 (212)and installs processor 216 in chassis 208. As can be seen, in someembodiments, a single robot may change tools to perform different tasksrequired to assemble a custom server. In some embodiments, a robot mayautonomously assemble a custom server by performing all or substantiallyall the tasks required to assemble the customer server, including tasksthat require different tools to perform.

In some embodiments, a robot used for assembling custom servers may bestationary or may be mobile. For example, robot 202 may include wheels,tracks, or various other type of locomotion devices to allow robot 202to move from one place to another. For example, robot 202 is illustratedwith wheels 218.

FIG. 3 illustrates multiple robots assembling a server in coordinationvia an assembly line process, according to some embodiments.

In some embodiments, a group of robots may work in coordination with oneanother to assemble a custom server via an assembly line. For example,in FIG. 3, robot 304 places chassis 310 on conveyance 302 using tool 1(308) attached to arm 306. In some embodiments, robot 304 or anotherrobot may also place processor 312 and memory 314 on conveyance 302.Robot 328 installs processor 318 in chassis 316 using tool 2 (332), andmemory 320 remains on conveyance 302. Robot 330 installs memory 326 inchassis 322 that already includes processor 324. Robot 330 uses tool 3(332) to install memory 326 in chassis 322.

In some embodiments, assembling a custom server using an assembly linemay be quicker than a single robot autonomously assembling a customserver. This is because different robots can use different tools withoutthe robots needing to change tools. For example, whereas robot 202 inFIG. 2 changed from tool 1 to tool 2 to install processor 216 in chassis208, in an assembly line arrangement, different robots can specialize indifferent aspects of the assembly process reducing or eliminating theneed for the robots to change tools. For example, robot 304 mayspecialize in placing parts on a conveyance using tool 1 (308), whilerobot 328 may specialize in installing processors using tool 2 (332) androbot 330 may specialize in installing memories using tool 3 (334). Insome embodiments various other tools may be used by a robot or robots toassemble a custom server. In some embodiments, robots 328 and 330 may bestationary robots mounted in a container adjacent to conveyance 302 ormay be mobile robots. In some embodiments, robot 304 may be a mobilerobot that retrieves parts from a parts storage associated with anassembly location, such as a portion of a container of a server assemblysystem or other containers coupled to a server assembly system. In someembodiments, parts storage may be located in a data center and a robot,such as robot 304 may retrieve parts from a parts storage of a datacenter. In some embodiments, a robot or multiple robots may installvarious other components in a custom server, such as power supplies,storage devices (e.g. solid-state storages, hard drives, etc.), networkcards, cooling elements (e.g. fans), or various other components. Insome embodiments, a chassis to be used to assemble a custom server maybe pre-configured with some server components that are common formultiple custom server configurations and additional components may beinstalled via robots to assemble the custom server, wherein theadditional components vary across different custom serverconfigurations.

In some embodiments, a robot that assembles or partially assembles acustom server may further install the custom server in an unoccupiedslot of a server mounting structure of a data center. Also, in someembodiments some robots may perform installation while other robotsperform assembly.

In some embodiments, blanking plates may be used to cover unoccupiedslots of a server mounting structure such that cooling resources are notwasted on the unoccupied slots and to prevent recirculation of air fromadjacent servers through an unoccupied slot. As discussed above, in someembodiments, custom servers may be placed in unoccupied slots based on amatching of available infrastructure support capacities of theunoccupied slots to infrastructure support requirements of the customserver. This may lead to an uneven distribution of unoccupied slots. Forexample, unoccupied slots may be intermixed with occupied slots of aserver mounting structure.

In some embodiments, a server placement controller may select anunoccupied slot for installation of a custom server and command a robotto install the custom server in the unoccupied slot.

FIGS. 4A-C illustrates a robot removing a blanking plate from a slot ofa server mounting structure and installing a custom server in the slot,according to some embodiments.

For example, robot 404 may be commanded to install custom server 406 inunoccupied slot 412 of server mounting structure 402 where servers areinstalled in slots 410 (light grey) and blanking plates 408 (dark grey)are placed over unoccupied slots. As shown in FIG. 4B, robot 404, mayset down custom server 406 and remove blanking plate 408 to accessunoccupied slot 412. In some embodiments, robot 404 may change tools totransition from transporting custom server 406 to removing blankingplate 408. In some embodiments, a blanking plate, such as blanking plate408 may be configured to swivel when a custom server is installed in aslot without the blanking plate being removed.

As shown in FIG. 4C, robot 404 may set down blanking plate 408 andinstall custom server 406 in unoccupied slot 412. In some embodiments,robot 404 may change tools to install custom server 406 in unoccupiedslot 412.

In some embodiments, a robot, such as any of the robots described hereinmay be a robot with an arm configured to move about 6 axis. This may bereferred to as a 6-axis robotic arm.

In some embodiments, a data center may be designed to be a “lights out”operation wherein robots as described herein install servers in the datacenter without human intervention. For example, robot 404 and robots 202and 303 may assemble and install custom servers in a server mountingstructure of a data center without human intervention.

Because a data center hall may be designed for limited human access,restrictions on rack heights may be relaxed. For example, whereas aconventional rack may be designed such that a human can install serversin the slots of the conventional rack, a data center including roboticinstallation, as described herein, may include server mountingstructures that are considerably taller than conventional racks. Forexample, in some embodiments, a server mounting structure may be 40′tall or taller.

In some embodiments, an automated installation and retrieval system(AIRS) may be included in a data center to install servers in a servermounting structure. Also, in some embodiments, larger items may beinstalled in a server mounting structure using an automated stocking andretrieval system (ASRS). In some embodiments, a single system mayfunction as both an AIRS and an ASRS.

FIG. 5A illustrates a perspective view of a robot delivering a customserver to an automated installation and retrieval system (AIRS) of adata center, according to some embodiments.

Data center 500 includes server mounting structure 502, a rail systemincluding top rail 512 and bottom rail 510, and lifting device 508coupled to the rail system. In some embodiments, a lifting device, suchas lifting device 508, may be included in an AIRS or an ASRS. As shownin FIG. 5A, robot 506 delivers custom server 504 to lifting device 508.

FIG. 5B illustrates a front view of a robot placing a custom server on alifting plate of an automated installation and retrieval system (AIRS)of a data center, according to some embodiments. As shown in FIG. 5B,robot 506 places custom server 504 on lifting plate 524.

FIG. 5C illustrates a front view an automated installation and retrievalsystem (AIRS) installing a custom server in a slot of a server mountingstructure of a data center, according to some embodiments. As shown inFIG. 5C, lifting device 508 elevates custom server 504 to an unoccupiedslot in which custom server 504 is to be installed.

FIG. 5D illustrates a side view of a lifting device of an automatedinstallation and retrieval system (AIRS) installing a custom server in aslot of a server mounting structure of a data center, according to someembodiments.

In some embodiments, a lifting device of an AIRS or ASRS, may include aninsertion stop, such as insertion stop 518. Also, in some embodiments, aslot of a server mounting structure, such as slot 514, may be configuredto accept installation of a custom server from a lifting device withouthuman intervention. For example, unoccupied slot 514 includes blind-mateconnections 520 and 522 that provide power and network connections for acustom server to be installed in unoccupied slot 514. Additionally, insome embodiments, a slot of a server mounting structure, such asunoccupied slot 514, may include a retractable blanking plate, such asblanking plate 516.

For example, blanking plate 516 may be mounted to a server mountingstructure on a swivel such that insertion of custom server 504 causesthe blanking plate 516 to swing back into the server mounting structureand allows for insertion of custom server 504. In some embodiments, aretractable blanking plate, such as blanking plate 516, mayautomatically swing closed when a server is removed from an associatedslot. In some embodiments, a retractable blanking plate mayautomatically close due to gravity. In some embodiments, a retractableblanking plate may be operated via an actuator or other suitable device.

FIG. 5E illustrates a side view of a lifting device of an automatedinstallation and retrieval system (AIRS) that has installed a customserver in a slot of a server mounting structure of a data center,according to some embodiments.

As shown in FIG. 5E an insertion stop of a lifting device, such asinsertion stop 518 may move towards a slot of a server mountingstructure causing a server placed on a lifting plate, such as liftingplate 524, of the lifting device to be inserted in the slot. While notshown, in some embodiments an insertion stop may further include a hook,claw, or other device configured to grip a server already installed in aslot and extract the server from the slot onto a lifting plate of thelifting device.

In some embodiments, a lifting device as described herein may liftindividual servers and may be used in an automated installation andretrieval system (AIRS). In some embodiments, a lifting device asdescribed herein, may lift sets of servers mounted in a rack or otherstructure and may be used in an automated stocking and retrieval system(ASRS).

In some embodiments, a track system for a lifting device may spanmultiple aisle of a data center.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram illustrating a top view of a datacenter hall that includes a track-mounted automated installation andretrieval system (AIRS) or a track-mounted automated stocking andretrieval system (ASRS), according to some embodiments.

Data center hall 600, which may be one of multiple data center halls ofa data center, includes server mounting structures 602 and 604 and anaisle 610 between the server mounting structures. In some embodiments, adata center hall may include any number of server mounting structuresand aisles. In some embodiments, a track system may connect multipleaisles, such that a lifting device may move from one aisle to anotheraisle via the track system. For example, data center hall 600 includestrack system 608 that allows lifting device 606 to move to differentslot locations along an aisle and to different aisles in the data centerhall.

In some embodiments, a lifting device of an automated installation andretrieval system (AIRS) or an automated stocking and retrieval system(ASRS) may be configured with wheels that allow the lifting device tomove around a data center hall without using a track system.

FIG. 7 is a side view of an automated installation and retrieval system(AIRS) or an automated stocking and retrieval system (ASRS), accordingto some embodiments.

For example, lifting device 700 includes base 710 and wheels 712. Insome embodiments, base 700 may include a counter weight that preventslifting device 700 from tipping over when lifting a server or rack ofservers. Lifting device 700 also includes a lifting plate 714 andinsertion stop 702. In some embodiments, an insertion stop, such asinsertion stop 702, may push a server into an unoccupied slot and pull aserver from an occupied slot.

In some embodiments, a lifting device, such as lifting device 700, mayinclude a retractable mast structure 704. For example, mast elements 706and 708 of mast structure 704 may collapse to make the lifting devicemore mobile, for example when moving between aisles of a data center,and may extend such that the lifting device can reach greater heightswhen inserting or retrieving a server or rack of servers from a servermounting structure. For example, in some embodiments, a retractable maststructure, such as retractable mast structure 704, may extend to over40′ high or may retract to a smaller height, such as 6′ or less.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example user interface implemented by a serviceprovider for requesting custom servers, according to some embodiments.

In some embodiments, a service provider may allow clients of the serviceprovider to specify characteristics of one or more custom servers thatare to be used to execute workloads on behalf of the clients. Forexample, a service provider network may include one or more computingdevices that implement a user interface, such as user interface 118described in FIG. 1. The user interface may provide an interface to aclient such as the interface 800 illustrated in FIG. 8.

In some embodiments, an interface, such as interface 800, may include afield allowing a client to indicate if a custom server is requested orif a cluster of servers that include one or more custom servers isrequested. For example, interface 800 includes box 802 that includes afield 804 for selecting a server or a cluster.

In some embodiments, an interface, such as interface 800, may includeone or more fields for selecting a type and quantity of components, suchas processors, to be included in a custom server or cluster. Also, insome embodiments, an interface, such as interface 800 may include one ormore other fields for selecting a type and quantity of other components,such as memory cards or storage devices, to be included in a customserver or cluster. In some embodiments, an interface, such as interface800, may include additional fields for specifying other characteristicsof a custom server.

For example, box 802 includes field 804 for selecting a processor typefor processors to be included in a custom server or cluster. As anexample, field 804 indicates that a 500 MHz processor type is requested.In some embodiments, processor types may be selected in various ways,for example based on manufacturer, based on application type, e.g.graphics, etc., based on speed, or based on various other categories.Box 802 also includes field 808 indicating that 3 of the 500 MHzprocessors are to be included in the requested custom server. In someembodiments, a user interface, such as user interface 800 may includemultiple boxes 802 for selecting different quantities of different typesof components to be included in a custom server. For example, a clientmay request a certain quantity of CPU processors of a certain type and adifferent quantity of graphics processors of a certain type to beincluded in a custom server.

As another example, box 802, also includes field 810 for selecting atype of memory card to be included in a custom server and a field 812for indicating the quantity of the selected type of memory card to beincluded in the custom server. For example, FIG. 8 indicates a defaultmemory type is to be used and that 3 memory cards are to be used in thecustom server. In a similar manner as described above, in someembodiments a user interface may include multiple boxes 802 forselecting multiple types of a particular component, such as memorycards, to be included in a custom server and for indicating respectivequantities of the different types of components, such as memory cards,that are to be included in the custom server.

Additionally, in some embodiments, a user interface such as userinterface 800, may include additional boxes 802 for specifying types andquantities of other components to be included in a custom server.

User interface 800 also includes a submit button 814. In response to aclient selecting the submit button, a server assembly controller maycause one or more robots to assemble the requested custom server andinstall the assembled custom server in an unoccupied slot of a servermounting structure. The robots that assemble the custom server may belocated at the same data center where the custom server is installed andthe custom server may be assembled and installed in near real-time. Forexample in a matter of minutes, hours, or possibly overnight therequested custom server may be assembled and installed. Once the customserver is installed, it may be made available to perform workloads onbehalf of the client.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example user interface implemented by a serviceprovider for requesting a custom cluster of servers, according to someembodiments.

In a similar manner as described for FIG. 8, a client may select acluster and specify component types and quantities, such as processortypes and quantities and also memory types and quantities, for a customcluster. Also, in some embodiments, a client may specify othercharacteristics for a custom cluster. For example, a client may make aspecification that implies an existing installed server is to beincluded in the custom cluster. Also, a client may specify configurationcharacteristics for the custom cluster, such as a cluster topology or acluster interconnect protocol. In some embodiments, it may be lessimportant to a client that requested components be included in a singleserver, but it may be more relevant to the client than a group ofservers clustered together include requested components having certaincapabilities.

For example, in some embodiments, servers included in a cluster may beplaced in proximity to each other such that a number of network hops, alatency, etc. between the servers of the cluster is less than athreshold amount. In some embodiments, a user interface 900 forselecting a custom cluster may include one or more boxes 902 forselecting types and quantities of components to be included in thecluster. For example, box 902 includes field 904 indicating that therequest is for cluster ABC. In some embodiments, user interface 900 maybe used to request a new cluster, or in conjunction with user interface1000 described in FIG. 10, may be used to add additional capacity to anexisting cluster. Continuing the example, box 902 also includes field904 for indicating a type of a first component, such as a processor, tobe included in the custom cluster and a field 906 for indicating aquantity of the selected component type to be included in the customcluster. Additionally, box 902 includes a field 910 for indicating atype of another component, such as a memory card or storage device, tobe included in the custom cluster and a field 912 for indicating aquantity of the selected component type to be included in the customcluster. As discussed above, in some embodiments a user interface 900may include multiple boxes 902 for specifying different quantities ofdifferent types of components to be included in a custom cluster.Additionally, in some embodiments a user interface 900 may allow aclient to specify types and quantities of other components to beincluded in a custom cluster.

In some embodiments, a user interface, such as user interface 900, mayalso include one or more fields for indicating other configurationcharacteristics for a custom cluster, such as a cluster topology,cluster interconnect protocol, etc. For example, field 914 indicatesthat a ring topology has been selected. A ring topology may organizeservers of the cluster in a ring. In other embodiments, other topologiesmay be available for selection such as a mesh topology or other suitabletopologies.

Additionally, user interface 900 includes a submit button 916. Inresponse to the request being submitted via user interface 900, one ormore robots at a data center may automatically assemble one or moreservers for the requested cluster and place the assembled servers inproximity to one another. Furthermore, a manager of a service of theservice provider may make the placed (e.g. installed) servers availableto perform workloads on behalf of the requestor. In some embodiments,the cluster may be made available in a matter of minutes, hours, orpossibly overnight.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example user interface implemented by a serviceprovider for requesting one or more already installed compute resourcesbe included in a cluster with a custom server, according to someembodiments.

As discussed above, in some embodiments, a client may include one ormore already placed servers in a requested cluster. For example userinterface 1000 includes a box 1002 for selecting already placed serversto be included in a requested cluster. For example, box 1002 includesfield 1004 for indicating a cluster in which the already placed serversare to be included and fields 1006 and 1008 for indicating which alreadyplaced servers are to be included in the indicated cluster.

In some embodiments, a client may indicate abstract resources, such as ahigh performance compute instance to be included in a custom clusterwithout knowledge of the details of what physical server the highperformance compute instance resides on. In such situations, a serverplacement controller may determine where the physical server thatimplements the abstract resource, such as the high performance computeinstance, is located and may select a placement location for additionalservers of the custom cluster that are proximate to the already placedserver. In some embodiments, a server placement a controller may move anabstract resource implementation location in order to place the resourcein a location proximate to other servers included in a cluster. Forexample, if a client requests an existing high compute resource beincluded in a cluster with a newly requested custom server, there may beinsufficient space in a server mounting structure to place the requestedcustom server proximate to a server that implements the existing highperformance compute instance. In such a situation, a server placementcontroller may place the custom server in an unoccupied slot with one ormore proximate unoccupied slots and may further place another server inone of the proximate unoccupied slots. The server placement controllermay then cause one or more configuration operations to be performed torelocate the high performance resource instance to the server placedproximate to the custom server.

FIG. 11 is a high-level flowchart illustrating various methods andtechniques for providing a near real-time custom server service,according to some embodiments.

At 1102 a service provider network implements a user interface forreceiving requests for assembly of custom servers. In some embodiments,the user interface may be implemented by a server assembly controller oranother user interface of a provider network may implement the userinterface and provide requests to a server assembly controller of aprovider network. Additionally or alternatively, at 1104, a serviceprovider network may implement an application programmatic interface(API) to a server assembly controller. The API may allow clients orother services of a service provider network request assembly of customservers or custom clusters.

At 1106, a server assembly controller of a provider network receives arequest for a custom assembled server or custom cluster, for example viaa user interface or an API.

At 1108, the requested custom server is assembled by one or more robotsat data center location where the custom server is to be installed.

At 1110, the assembled custom server is installed in an unoccupied slotof a server mounting structure at the data center where the customserver was assembled. In some embodiments, a server placement controllermay select a particular slot from a plurality of available unoccupiedslots based on support infrastructure needs of the custom server andsupport infrastructure availability at the unoccupied slots. Also,proximity to other attached servers may be taken into consideration whenselecting an unoccupied slot for installation of the custom assembledserver. For example, locations of other servers in the same cluster maybe taken into consideration when selecting a placement location.

At 1112, a service provider manager, such as a hypervisor, performs oneor more configuration operations to enable the installed customassembled server to be available to execute workloads on behalf of therequestor. For example, the custom assembled server may be madeavailable to perform workloads on behalf of a client that requested thecustom assembled server via a user interface. Also, the custom assembledserver may be made available to be included in a fleet of servers thatimplement a service of the service provider network. For example, aservice of the service provider network may have requested additionalservers having one or more particular configurations via an API to aserver assembly controller of the service provider network and theinstalled assembled servers may be made available for use by therequesting service.

FIG. 12 is a high-level flowchart illustrating various methods andtechniques for assembling custom servers using robots of a nearreal-time custom server service, according to some embodiments.

At 1202 a server assembly controller receives a request for multiplecustom servers or multiple request at a similar time for multiple customservers. For example, the requests may have been received at 1106.

In some embodiments, a server assembly controller determines at 1204whether the multiple requested custom servers include a high volume ofcustom servers having a common configuration or whether the multiplerequested servers include low volumes of multiple types of serverconfigurations. If there is a high volume of a common configurationtype, at 1206 the server assembly controller causes robots assemblingthe high volume of custom servers having the common server configurationto coordinate with one another to assemble the high volume of customservers with the common server configuration, for example utilizing anassembly line. In some embodiments, one or more weighted scores and/orthreshold as described above, may be used to determine whether themultiple requested custom servers include a high volume of customservers having a common configuration or whether the multiple requestedservers include low volumes of multiple types of server configurations.

If the requested custom servers do not include a high volume of a commonserver configuration, the server assembly controller determines at 1208whether the requested custom servers comprise low volumes of variedserver types. If the answer is yes, the server assembly controllercauses multiple robots to autonomously assemble the different customservers having different configurations at 1210. If the answer is no, at1212 the server assembly controller determines a mix of autonomous andcoordinated robots to assemble the requested custom servers.

Custom Server Placement System

In some embodiments, a computing facility, or a provider networkcomprising multiple computing facilities, may further include a serverplacement controller for determining placement locations for customassembled servers.

Whereas a single placement decision for a group of non-custom serversmay be made for the group, custom servers assembled at a data center maybe placed individually or in smaller groups than would be the case fornon-custom servers. Also, non-custom servers that are placed as a largegroup may typically be placed in slots with infrastructure supportsystems designed, in advance, to meet the needs of the large group ofservers. In such a situation, the configurations of the servers to beplaced as a large group are known when the infrastructure supportsystems are designed and built, and the infrastructure support systemsare designed to meet these known requirements. In contrast, customserver configurations and quantities of different configurations ofcustom servers may not be known when server mounting structures andinfrastructure support systems are being designed and built. Becausecustom servers are assembled in real-time or near real-time, what customserver configurations and quantities of different custom serverconfigurations that will be installed in a server mounting structure maynot be known at the time the server mounting structure and relatedinfrastructure support systems are designed and built. Because of thisunknown nature of what custom server configurations will ultimately beinstalled in a server mounting structure, allocation of infrastructureresources and placement decisions are more complex for near real-timecustom servers than is the case for non-custom servers withconfigurations that are known in advance of designing infrastructuresupport systems.

In some embodiments, a server placement controller identifies unoccupiedslots in a server mounting structure as candidates for placement of acustom server. The server placement controller also identifiesinfrastructure support requirements for the custom server, such as apower requirement, a networking requirement, a cooling requirement,requirements regarding other attached/associated servers, etc. Theserver placement controller makes an individual placement decision foran individual custom server to place the custom server in an unoccupiedslot that meets the infrastructure support requirements for the customserver while making the most efficient use of infrastructure supportsystem resources of a data center. In some embodiments, a serverplacement controller may also make a placement decision based onflexibility considerations to meet infrastructure support requirementsof future custom servers that may be placed in the future, wherein theconfigurations of the future custom servers is not known when theplacement decision for a given custom server is made.

In some embodiments, a server placement controller may follow ahierarchical decision process. For example, in some embodiments, aserver placement controller may first perform an optimization for apower domain, wherein the server placement controller selects unoccupiedslots that meet the infrastructure support requirements of the customserver and also optimizes use of power infrastructure support systems ofthe data center. As a second hierarchical consideration, the serverplacement controller may further optimize a networking domain. Forexample, if there are multiple unoccupied slots with similar powerdomain optimization results, the server placement controller may furthercompare the multiple unoccupied slots to determine if a placement in aparticular one or more of the slots would make a more efficient oroptimal use of networking infrastructure support resources of the datacenter. In some embodiments, a networking optimization may be performedat a rack level, aisle level, or larger network level, or a combinationthereof. In some embodiments, an optimization may consider both powerand networking and apply different weighting factors to each. Forexample, in some embodiments, a placement that is not the optimum forpower and not the optimum for networking may be selected if a weightedscore in regard to both power and networking optimization is better thanother possible alternatives.

As a third hierarchical consideration, a server placement controller mayfurther consider space optimization, wherein the server placementcontroller attempts to reduce unused slots. However, in someembodiments, a fully utilized server mounting structure may include atleast some unoccupied slots that are covered with blanking plates.

As a fourth hierarchical consideration, a server placement controllermay consider cooling infrastructure support optimization, wherein aserver placement controller chooses a placement that optimizes use ofcooling resources. In some embodiments, a cooling infrastructure supportsystem for a data center hall may be designed with at least some excesscapacity such that cooling is generally not a constrained infrastructuresupport system. However, nevertheless, a server placement controller mayattempt to place custom servers that generate large amounts of wasteheat at disperse locations in a server mounting structure, as opposed toconcentrated locations that may cause a local hot spot.

In some embodiments, other hierarchical considerations may be consideredby a server placement controller. Also, in some embodiments, otherhierarchies may be used by a server placement controller to select aplacement location for a custom server. For example, in someembodiments, the four hierarchical considerations described above may beconsidered in one or more other orders, e.g. cooling may be consideredfirst, networking may be considered first, space may be consideredfirst, etc.) In some embodiments, a simulation may be performed for eachavailable unoccupied slot and hypothetical impacts for placement of acustom server may be determined in regard to multiple infrastructuresupport systems for placement of the custom server in each of theavailable slots. In some embodiments, weighting factors may be appliedto the respective impacts on some or all of the infrastructure supportsystems to select a placement location for the custom server. In someembodiments a selected placement location may not be optimal for any oneparticular infrastructure support system, but may in the aggregateacross multiple infrastructure support systems produce more efficientutilization of infrastructure support system resources than placement atother ones of the respective available unoccupied slots.

FIG. 13A is a perspective view of a robot of a near-real time customserver service delivering a custom server to a selected slot of a servermounting structure, according to some embodiments.

Data center 1300 includes server mounting structure 1312, powerinfrastructure support system 1304, and networking infrastructuresupport system 1302. Server mounting structure 1312 includes slots 1322.

In some embodiments, server mounting structure 1312, powerinfrastructure support system 1304, and networking infrastructuresupport system 1302 may be designed and built prior to custom serversbeing placed in slots 1322. In such embodiments, fixed amounts of powerand networking capacity may be allocated to each slot. However, powercapacity or network capacity of some slots that utilize less powercapacity or network capacity may be utilized by other slots that includea custom server that requires more power or networking capacity. Forexample, power infrastructure support system 1304 includes tap boxes1306 coupled to bus bar 1308, wherein the tap boxes 1306 each providepower to respective rack power distribution units 1314 that includepower receptacles 1320. The power receptacles 1320 are spaced out evenlyfor the slots 1322 of server mounting structure 1312. In someembodiments, some custom servers may require less power than othercustom servers and may utilize fewer power receptacles than other customservers. Thus, as long as power requirements of a mix of custom serversinstalled in server mounting structure 1312 does not exceed the overallpower receptacle capacity of the server mounting structure 1312, thepower infrastructure support system 1304 may meet the power requirementsof the custom servers. In a similar manner, networking infrastructuresupport system 1302 includes network connections 1310, wherein somecustom servers mounted in slots 1322 may require more networkconnections than other custom servers mounted in slots 1322. In someembodiments, various networking connection types could be used, such asoptical connections, copper connections, or various other types ofnetwork connections. While power infrastructure resources are describedin terms of receptacles, in some embodiments, power infrastructuresupport system capacity may be allocated and consumed in other ways. Forexample, in some embodiments, power units may be allocated to a slotwherein a capacity of a bus bar is divided into power units. Also, insome embodiments, in a similar manner as described above in regard topower receptacles, power units allocated to a particular slot may beconsumed by another slot. Similarly, while network infrastructureresources are described in terms of network connections, in someembodiments network infrastructure support system capacity may beallocated and consumed in other ways. For example, network units may beallocated to a slot, wherein a network unit represents a portion ofcapacity of a network to which the slot is configured to attach a customserver. For example a network unit, may be a bandwidth amount, or othermeasure of network capacity.

In order to determine a mix of custom servers and distribution of customservers such that power, networking, cooling, and other infrastructureresources are efficiently used and stranded capacity is minimized, aserver placement controller, such as server placement controller 1352,may make placement decisions for a custom server that take into accountpower, networking, cooling, space, etc. to determine an optimalplacement location for a next incremental custom server. Furthermore, aserver placement controller, such as server placement controller 1352,may cause a robot to install a custom server in the selected slot. Forexample, server placement controller 1352 may command robot 1318 toinstall custom server 1316 in a selected slot of server mountingstructure 1312.

FIG. 13B is a block diagram illustrating a server placement controllerthat selects a placement location for a custom server based oninfrastructure support requirements of the custom server and capacitiesof associated server support infrastructure systems at unoccupied slotsof a server mounting structure, according to some embodiments.

For example, server placement controller 1352 includes a powerutilization model/data store 1354 that tracks power capacityavailability at respective slots of a server mounting structure. Forexample, power utilization model and data store 1354 may track a numberof available receptacles 1320 (or power units) at various slots 1322 andmay further track receptacles (or power units) that are not used byadjacent slots 1322 that may be utilized by a particular slot 1322 toplace a custom server having a particular power requirement. Note thatpower connectors are described for ease of illustration. However, insome embodiments power capacity may be measured in other power units,such as kilowatts consumed, amperes consumed, etc. and should not beinterpreted to be limited to power receptacle availability.

As another example, server placement controller 1352 also includesnetwork utilization model and data store 1356 that tracks availablenetworking capacity at various slots of a server mounting structure andnetworking capacity being used by servers mounted in occupied slots of aserver mounting structure. For simplicity of illustration, networkingcapacity is described in terms of network connections. However, in someembodiments, networking capacity could be tracked and allocated in otherways, such as bandwidth, etc.

Also, server placement controller 1352 includes thermal load model 1360that tracks waste heat generated by various servers already placed in aserver mounting structure and also determines available coolinginfrastructure support capacity at various unoccupied slots of a servermounting structure, such as slots 1322 of server mounting structure1312. In some embodiments, a server placement controller, such as serverplacement controller 1352, may also include an attached server model anddata store 1362 that tracks associations between placed servers and tobe placed servers. Additionally, in some embodiments, a server placementcontroller, such as server placement controller 1352, may include arobot assembly capacity model 1358 that tracks available assemblycapacity at a plurality of custom server assembly locations at a datacenter.

Additionally, server placement controller 1352 includes placementdecision engine 1366 which performs hierarchical analysis and/or asimulation to select an optimal or near-optimal placement location for acustom server taking into account power considerations, networkingconsiderations, thermal considerations, attached server considerations,assembly capacity considerations, and/or various other factors. Theplacement decision engine 1366 may make a placement decision and a robotcontrol interface 1364 may, in coordination with a server assemblycontroller, cause the custom server to be assembled in near real-timeand installed in the selected placement location.

In some embodiments, a server placement controller 1352, may furthertake into consideration failure domains for servers allocated to a sameclient. For example, in some embodiments, in addition to or instead of,considering attached servers, attached server model and data store 1362may further track servers allocated to the same client, serversperforming similar operations, or servers that are related in otherways. In some embodiments, placement decision engine 1366 may furthertake into consideration failure domains when making a placementdecision, wherein a selected placement location is selected such thatrelated servers are placed in different failure domains.

In some embodiments, a server placement controller, such as serverplacement controller 1352, may further determine a momentum of serverconfigurations being selected and may take the determined momentum intoconsideration when making a placement decisions for a custom server. Forexample, a momentum may include a trend in custom servers being placed,such as servers having particular configurations. Based on thismomentum, a server placement controller may anticipate that additionalcustom servers having configurations according to the trend will need tobe placed in the future. Accordingly, the server placement controllermay make placement selections in the present with the anticipation thatadditional placements according to the trend will be needed in thefuture. In some embodiments, this may affect a weighting of differentfactors used to make a placement decision, such as a power, networking,cooling, space considerations, etc. based on anticipated capacity ofthese infrastructure support systems if the current trend continues.

In some embodiments, a server placement controller, such as serverplacement controller 1352, may further detect a failed server and incoordination with a server assembly controller, cause a replacementcustom server to be assembled in near real-time and installed to replacethe failed server.

FIG. 14 illustrates a front view of a server mounting structure andassociated power and network infrastructure support systems, accordingto some embodiments.

As an example of uneven distribution of infrastructure support systemresources between slots and as an example of some slots remainingunoccupied, server mounting structure 1400 includes power units 1418,network units 1402 and 1404, and slots 1410, 1412, 1414, 1416, andunoccupied slots 1420 and 1422. As an example, a custom server mountedin slot 1410 and another custom server mounted in slot 1412, may havesimilar networking requirements. For example, network units 1402B areconnected to a custom server in slot 1410 and network units 1402 C areconnected to a custom server mounted in slot 1412. Note that unoccupiedslot 1420 is covered with a blanking plate and network units 1402A, arenot connected to a custom server. In this example, each slot may beallocated two network units, thus the network units, such as networkconnections, for unoccupied slot 1420 are unused because a custom serveris not mounted in the unoccupied slot 1420. Continuing the example, sixpower units are utilized by the custom server mounted in slot 1410,while only four power units are utilized by the custom server mounted in1412. Also, note that because slot 1420 is an unoccupied slot, two ofthe power units associated with unoccupied slot 1420 have been used tosupply power to a custom server mounted in slot 1410.

As another example, the custom server mounted in slot 1414 utilizesthree power units and the custom server mounted in slot 1416 utilizesfour power units. However, each of the custom servers mounted in slots1414 and 1416 utilize three network units. Since slot 1422 isunoccupied, the six network units available for slots 1414, 1422, and1416 may be distributed with three network units for slot 1414, threenetwork units for slot 1416 and zero network connections for unoccupiedslot 1422.

As can be seen, by strategically placing custom servers requiring morepower resources or networking resources adjacent to servers requiringless power or network resources or next to an unoccupied slot, the fixedpower and networking resources associated with each slot may be flexiblydeployed to accommodate custom servers having various combinations ofinfrastructure support system requirements. Thus, when a custom serveris to be placed, a server placement controller may determine ifinfrastructure support system resources are available at an unoccupiedslot to support the custom server's infrastructure support requirements,by not only looking at the infrastructure support system resourcesallocated to the particular unoccupied slot, but by also looking at theunused infrastructure support system resources of adjacent or proximateslots.

FIG. 15 illustrates a front view of a server mounting structure andassociated cooling infrastructure support systems, according to someembodiments.

In a similar manner as described in FIG. 14 for power and networkingresources, a server placement controller may strategically place customservers in regard to waste heat generation/cooling infrastructuresupport system requirements.

For example, server mounting structure 1500 includes standard server1502, storage dense server 1504, and standard server 1506 mountedadjacent to one another wherein the waste heat 1516 generated by each ofthe servers is such that a cooling capacity of a cooling infrastructuresupport system, such as an HVAC system computer room air conditioning(CRAC) system, server mounting structure fan system, etc., associatedwith server mounting structure 1500 is able to remove the waste heat1516 from servers 1502, 1504, an 1508 without the waste heat 1516affecting adjacent servers. In contrast, processor dense server 1508 andprocessor dense server 1510 may generate waste heat 1514 that exceeds acapacity of a cooling infrastructure support system to remove the wasteheat without the waste heat affecting cooling of adjacently mountedservers. However, in some embodiments, a server placement controller mayintentionally leave an unoccupied slot between processor dense server1508 and processor dense server 1510 such that cooling capacity of theunoccupied slot, e.g. slot 1512, may be distributed to processor denseserver 1508 and processor dense server 1510 to augment cooling capacityfor processor dense server 1508 and processor dense server 1510.

As described above, a server placement controller, such as serverplacement controller 1352, may take into account multiple requirementsfor a custom server such as power, networking, cooling, etc. whendetermining a placement location for the custom server. Also, a serverplacement controller may consider these different requirements accordingto a hierarchy, or simulation, wherein optimal use of someinfrastructure support systems is prioritized above optimal use of otherinfrastructure support systems.

FIG. 16 illustrates a top view of a data center and coupled portableserver assembly systems, wherein a server placement controller selects aplacement location based on distances from assembly locations tounoccupied slots of a server mounting structure, according to someembodiments.

Data center 1602 includes a server placement controller 1610, which maybe the same as server placement controller 120 illustrated in FIG. 1,server placement controller 1352, illustrated in FIG. 13, or any of theserver placement controllers described herein.

In some embodiments, a server placement controller, such as serverplacement controller 1610, may further select a placement location basedon a distance to a server assembly location. For example, serverplacement controller 1610 may determine that slots 1604, 1606, and 1608are available slots for placement of a custom server. While power,networking, cooling, etc. may be considered when making the placementdecision for the custom server, additionally, in some embodiments, theplacement decision may be based, at least in part, on respectivedistances to assembly locations. For example, available slot 1606 iscloser to assembly location 1 (1612) than is available slot 1604. Also adistance between available slot 1606 and assembly location 1 (1612) maybe a shorter distance than a distance between assembly location 2 (1614)and available slot 1608. Thus, server placement controller 1610 mayselect to place the custom server in available slot 1606 that is closestto assembly location 1 (1612), where the custom server will beassembled.

FIG. 17 illustrates a top view of a data center and coupled portableserver assembly systems, wherein a server placement controller selects aplacement location for a to-be-placed server based on distances from analready placed server to unoccupied slots of a server mountingstructure, according to some embodiments.

Data center 1702 includes a server placement controller 1710, which maybe the same as server placement controller 120 illustrated in FIG. 1,server placement controller 1352, illustrated in FIG. 13, or any of theserver placement controllers described herein.

In some embodiments, a server placement controller, such as serverplacement controller 1710, may further select a placement location basedon a distance to an associated or attached server. An associated orattached server may be a server that will coordinate execution of one ormore workloads with the custom server, once the custom server is placedand put into operation.

For example, server placement controller 1710 may determine that slots1704, 1706, and 1608 are available slots for placement of a customserver. While power, networking, cooling, distance to assembly locationsetc. may be considered when making the placement decision for the customserver, additionally, in some embodiments, the placement decision may bebased, at least in part, on respective distances to related servers(either already installed or to be installed). For example, availableslot 1704 is closer to currently placed server 1716 (which is a relatedor attached server) than is available slot 1706 or 1708. Thus, serverplacement controller 1710 may select to place the custom server to beassembled in available slot 1704 that is closest to related/attachedserver 1716.

FIGS. 18A-18C illustrate a robot making height adjustments as part ofinstalling a custom server in a server mounting structure, according tosome embodiments. Data center 1802 includes server placement controller1810 and robot 1818. Server placement controller 1810 may be the same asserver placement controller 120 illustrated in FIG. 1, server placementcontroller 1352, illustrated in FIG. 13, server placement controller1710 illustrated in FIG. 17, or any of the server placement controllersdescribed herein.

In some embodiments, a server placement controller, such as serverplacement controller 1810, may further command or otherwise cause amobile robot, AISR, or ASRS to cause a custom server to be placed in aselected unoccupied slot. For example, robot 1806 places custom server1804 in a selected slot 1820 in data center 1802. In some embodiments, arobot, such as mobile robot 1818 may be able to adjust a height of therobot to install a custom server in a selected unoccupied slot. Forexample, in FIG. 18A, robot 1818 is adjusted to height 1 (1812) suchthat arm 1806 can remove blanking plate 1808. Then, in FIG. 18B, robot1806 is adjusted to height 2 (1814) such that arm 1806 can placeblanking plate 1808 on the ground and grip custom server 1804. Then inFIG. 18C, robot 1818 is adjusted to height 3 (1816) such that arm 806can install custom server 1804 in selected slot 1820.

In some embodiments, a robot, such as robot 1818, may adjust to variousheights. In some embodiments, a robot may be able to adjust to reachplacement heights at elevations of 40′ or greater. In some embodiments,any of the robots described herein may be able to adjust its height in asimilar manner as described in regard to FIGS. 18A-18C.

FIG. 19 is a high-level flowchart illustrating various methods andtechniques for selecting a placement location for a custom server,according to some embodiments.

At 1902, a server placement controller determines which slots of one ormore server mounting structures of a data center are availableunoccupied slots that are available to accept installation of a customserver.

At 1904, the server placement controller performs one or moresimulations to determine respective capacities of the infrastructuresupport systems at the available unoccupied slots. In some embodiments,the server placement controller may additionally perform one or moresimulations to model placement of the custom server in each or multipleones of the available unoccupied slots in regard to one or moreinfrastructure support systems. For example, the server placementcontroller may model how placement of the custom server in each of theavailable unoccupied slots would impact power capacity of powerinfrastructure support system. Additionally, impact on otherinfrastructure support systems, such as a networking infrastructuresupport system, cooling infrastructure support system, etc. may also besimulated.

At 1906 a server placement controller selects an installation locationfor a requested custom server based on infrastructure supportrequirements of the custom server and based on respective availableinfrastructure support capacities at unoccupied slots of a servermounting structure. In some embodiments, a hierarchical evaluation anddecision process may be followed as described above based on thesimulated results determined at 1904. Also, at 1908 a server assemblycontroller selects an assembly location for assembling the requestedcustom server. In some embodiments, the assembly location may beselected based on a distance to a selected placement location for thecustom server, available assembly capacities at respective assemblylocations, and availability of server components at respective assemblylocations. In some embodiments, a server placement controller and aserver assembly controller may coordinate with one another to select aserver installation or placement location and a server assemblylocation. For example, a server placement location may be adjusted basedon a selected assembly location and vice-versa.

At 1910 one or more robots assemble the requested custom server at theselected assembly location. At 1912, a model of assembly capacity isupdated based on the selection of the assembly location. After thecustom server is assembled, at 1918, the model of assembly capacity isfurther updated to show that the assembly capacity is available toassemble another custom server. Also, at 1914, the assembled customserver is placed in the selected installation location at the datacenter where the custom server was assembled. At 1916, infrastructuresupport system capacity models and data is updated to reflect theplacement of the custom assembled server in the selected installationlocation. At 1920, it is determined if another custom server isrequested. If so, the process repeats. If not the process stops untilanother custom server is requested.

As described above, a placement decision for a custom server may be madeon an individual server basis and may be made prior to determininginfrastructure demand for other custom servers that are yet to berequested, assembled, or installed.

Portable Server Assembly System

In some situations, robots of a server assembly system may be relativelyexpensive. Thus, in some embodiments, in order to spread the costs ofrobots across multiple data center facilities, the robots may beincluded in a portable server assembly system and re-used to populateserver mounting structures with custom servers at multiple data centerlocations. In some embodiments, a portable server assembly system may bedeployed to a data center and may be re-deployed to another data centerlocation. For example, when a server mounting structure of a first datacenter is substantially filled, a portable server assembly system may bere-deployed to another data center location. In some embodiments, aportable server assembly system may include robots stowed in a portableshipping container, such as an international standard organization (ISO)compliant shipping container. In some embodiments, a shipping containerof a portable server assembly system may be transported via rail, road,water, air, or by other means. In some embodiments, a portable serverassembly system may comprise a single container that stows robots andparts for assembling custom servers or may include multiple containersthat stow robots and that store parts for assembling custom servers. Insome embodiments, a parts storage container may be coupled to a robotassembly container, and when a parts inventory of the parts storagecontainer is depleted, another parts storage container may be coupled tothe robot assembly container.

FIG. 20 is a flow diagram illustrating a portable server assembly systembeing deployed and redeployed to multiple data center locations,according to some embodiments.

Initially, container 2006 and container 2008 are coupled to data center2002. In some embodiments, containers 2006 and 2008 may be part of aportable server assembly system or may be two independent portableserver assembly systems. Containers 2006 and 2008 include robots 2010and conveyances 2012. In some embodiments, robots 2010 may operate incoordination as described in regard to FIG. 3 or may operateautonomously as described in regard to FIG. 2. In some embodiments,robots of a portable server assembly system may further installassembled custom servers in a data center, for example based onplacement decisions made by a server placement controller as describedabove.

As shown in FIG. 20, robots of a portable server assembly system may bestowed in a container of a portable server assembly system andre-deployed to another data center location. For example, container 2006and stowed robots 2010 that are stowed in container 2006, arere-deployed to data center 2004. In some embodiments, a portable serverassembly system may be deployed to any number of data center locationsor other locations. For example, container 2006 and stowed robots 2010may be further re-deployed to other locations.

In some embodiments, re-deploying a portable server assembly systemincludes stowing robots of the portable server assembly system in acontainer of the portable server assembly system, transporting thecontainer and stowed robots to another data center location, positioningthe container at the other data center location, for example at aloading dock of the other data center location, and assembling customservers via the robots at the other data center location.

In some embodiments, a portable server assembly system including a groupof robots and one or more conveyances may generate a large volume ofcustom servers in a short period of time. For example, the portableserver assembly system may be used to quickly populate slots of one ormore server mounting structures of a data center and then may bere-deployed to another data center location to quickly populate slots ofother server mounting structures at the other data center location.

FIG. 21A is a top view of a data center and attached portable serverassembly system that includes a portable container comprising robots andan attached portable container comprising parts storage, according tosome embodiments.

In some embodiments, a portable server assembly system may include aparts storage container that couples with an assembly container that iscoupled to a data center. For example, assembly container 2106 iscoupled to data center 2102 at a first end and is coupled to partsstorage container 2108 at a second end. Robots 2110 may retrieve partsfrom parts storage container 2108 and place the parts on one or moreconveyances where other robots 2110 assembly custom servers using theparts. Furthermore, a robot 2110 may further install an assembled customserver in a server mounting structure 2104 of data center 2102.

FIG. 21B is a top view of a data center and attached portable serverassembly system that includes a portable container comprising robots anddifferent parts storage arrangements, according to some embodiments.

In some embodiments, a portable server assembly system may be configuredin other ways. For example, assembly container 2124 coupled to datacenter 2120 also includes parts storage section 2126. Additionally,assembly container 2128 is coupled to data center 2120 at a first endand is coupled to parts storage containers 2130 and 2132 at a second endof the assembly container 2128. In a similar manner as described above,robots from either assembly container 2124 or 2128, or robots of datacenter 2120, may install assembled custom servers in server mountingstructure 2122. In some embodiments, an automated installation andretrieval system (AIRS) or automated stocking and retrieval system(ASRS) as described herein may receive a custom assembled server from arobot and cause the custom assembled server to be installed in a servermounting structure of a data center, such as server mounting structure2104 or 2120.

FIG. 22 is a side view of an interior of a container of a portableserver assembly system, according to some embodiments.

In some embodiments, a container of a portable server assembly systemmay be an ISO container configured to be moved via a truck, train, ship,airplane, or other suitable transportation device. In some embodiments,a container of a portable server assembly system may include dockingstations for stowing robots during transport. For example, container2202 of portable server system 2200 includes docking stations 2216 forstowing robots 2212. In some embodiments, a docking station, such as oneof docking stations 2216, may include a clamp, bracket, strap or othermeans for securing a robot during transport. For example, dockingstations 2216 include clamps 2210. Additionally, in some embodiments, adocking station, such as docking stations 2216 may include a powerconnection, such as power connections 2214, for charging robots duringtransportation between data centers.

In some embodiments, a container of a portable server assembly systemmay further include one or more parts storage compartments. For example,container 2202 includes parts storages 2206 and 2204. In someembodiments, a container of a portable server assembly system mayfurther include one or more conveyances, such as conveyor belts. Forexample, container 2202 includes conveyance 2208. In some embodiments,parts storages, such as parts storage 2206, may be located on walls of acontainer above a conveyance, such as conveyance 2208. In someembodiments, robots, such as robots 2212, may be stowed in dockingstations below a conveyance, such as conveyance 2208, during transportbetween data center locations. Furthermore, in some embodiments, acontainer of a portable server assembly system, such as container 2202,may be configured to couple with a loading dock of a data center. Forexample, a floor of container 2202 may be flush with a floor of a datacenter when container 2202 is positioned in a loading dock of a datacenter.

FIG. 23 is a high-level flowchart illustrating deployment andre-deployment of a portable server assembly system, according to someembodiments.

At 2302, a portable container of a portable server assembly system ispositioned at a data center location. For example, the portablecontainer may be positioned at a loading dock of a data center.

At 2304, one or more robots of the portable server assembly systemassemble custom servers at the data center location. In someembodiments, the robots may further install the assembled custom serversat the data center location. In some embodiments, assembly andinstallation of custom assembled servers may be controlled by a serverassembly controller and/or server placement controller as describedherein.

At 2306, the portable server assembly system is re-deployed to anotherdata center location. Re-deployment may include stowing the robots ofthe portable server assembly system in a container of the portableserver assembly system, transporting the container comprising the stowedrobots to the other data center location, positioning the container atthe other data center location, for example at a loading dock, andassembling custom servers at the other data center location.

Server Configuration Selection System

In some embodiments, a server assembly controller may further beconfigured to perform server configuration selection, or a providernetwork may further include a server configuration selection system thatcoordinates with a server assembly controller to select a configurationfor a custom server. As described above in regards to FIGS. 8-10, insome embodiments a client or service of a provider network may request acustom server having a particular configuration. However, in otherembodiments, a client or a service of a provider network may delegateserver configuration selection to a server configuration selectionsystem or a server assembly controller configured to perform serverconfiguration selection. In some embodiments, a server assemblycontroller or server configuration selection system may select aconfiguration for a custom server without access to applicationsexecuting on other servers that are similar to applications that will beexecuted on the custom server. For example, instead of accessing anapplication itself or underlying application data, a serverconfiguration selection system or server assembly controller maydetermine trends in higher level server utilization data and deduceapplication classes of applications executing on a server based ondetected trends in server utilization metadata. The server configurationselection system or server assembly controller may then use thesedetermined application classes to select a configuration for a customserver that will be used in a similar manner as the servers having theobserved utilization trends.

For example, a server assembly controller or server configurationselection system may identify trends in time-series power utilizationdata for an already installed server, without accessing an applicationbeing executed on the already installed server. In some instances, powerutilization may correspond with processor utilization, thus processingtrends may be deduced based on power utilization data without access tothe application being executed. As another example, a server assemblycontroller or server configuration selection system may also identifytrends in time-series memory utilization data. In a similar manner, aserver assembly controller or server configuration selection system maydeduce characteristics of an application being executed on a serverbased on trends in memory utilization without access to the underlyingapplication or application data. In some embodiments, a server assemblycontroller or server configuration selection system may further identifytrends in time-series server utilization metadata for a group of serversto determine types of applications being executed on the group ofservers. For example, correlated changes in power usage or memoryutilization between servers of a group of servers may indicate that theservers of the group are executing a distributed application. In someembodiments, a server assembly controller or server configurationselection system may further identify trends in time-series serverutilization metadata for other server components, such as centralprocessing units (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs), solid-statedrives (SSDs), hard drives, etc. These trends, determined for alreadyinstalled servers, may then be used by a server assembly controller orserver configuration selection system to determine configurations foryet-to-be installed custom servers that are to execute workloads similarto the workloads being executed on the already installed servers.

Note the contrast between using higher level server utilization metadatato determine an application class for an application being executed on aserver and utilizing profiling techniques that require access to theapplication and/or application data.

Some computing facilities may service internal computing needs and thusmay have lessened privacy concerns. However, other computing facilitiesmay perform workloads for clients that may desire a high level ofprivacy and/or security. For example, many clients may not be inclinedto grant a service provider access to applications that the clients areexecuting in order to determine recommendations for custom servers.However, conversely such clients may not be opposed to a serviceprovider tracking trends in server utilization such as power consumptionand memory utilization. Also, in some embodiments, server utilizationmetrics may already be tracked for other reasons, such as powermanagement or server performance monitoring. For example, a managementcontroller may include counters and/or registers that measure resourcecomponent utilization pressure for server components managed by themanagement controller. Thus, utilizing server utilization metadata toselect server configurations for recommended custom servers may notinvolve collecting any more additional data about client usage than isalready collected for other reasons.

In some embodiments, resource utilization pressure may be determinedbased on current utilization of a server component or set of servercomponents relative to a benchmark utilization for the server componentor set of server components. For example, resource utilization pressuremay be determined for an individual server component or for a group ofserver components, such as processors for a fleet of servers or memorycards for a fleet of servers.

As an example embodiment, a client may select for custom servers to beinstalled to optimize a client's computing resources, but the client maynot be inclined to determine configurations for the custom servers andmay delegate this determination to a service provider, for example via aserver assembly controller or a server configuration selection system.The client may be an external client or another service of a serverprovider network. The request may indicate that current workloads of theclient are to be moved to custom servers that are optimized for theseworkloads. Additionally, or alternatively, a client may indicate that asworkload demand increases, newly added servers are to be custom serversoptimized for the workload. In some embodiments, a client may be aclient external to a service provider network or may be another internalservice of a service provider network. In such an example embodiment, aserver assembly controller may analyze server utilization metadata foralready installed servers that are executing workloads similar toworkloads that are to be executed on the yet-to-be assembled customserver(s). The server assembly controller or server configurationselection system may identify trends in the server utilization metadataand compare the identified trends to known trends that are associatedwith particular application classes to determine an application class orapplication classes for applications executing the workloads that aresimilar to workloads to be executed on the yet-to-be assembled customserver. Based on these identified application class(es), a serverassembly controller may select a server configuration that is optimizedor near optimal for the determined application class(es). Furthermore,the server assembly controller may command one or more robots toassemble the custom server(s) according to the selected serverconfiguration. Additionally, the assembled custom server(s) may beautomatically installed in a server mounting structure of a data centerby one or more robots and made available to execute the workloads. Insome embodiments, the selected server configuration may specify, typesand quantities of server components to be included in a custom assembledserver. For example, the selected server configuration may specify atype of processor to be included in the custom assembled server and aquantity of processors to be included in the custom assembled server.The selected server configuration may also specify types and quantitiesof other server components, such as memory cards, networking cards,SSDs, hard drives, GPUs, and/or other server components. In someembodiments, a selected server configuration may also specify anarrangement of components that are to be included in a custom assembledserver, such as how processors, memory cards, storage devices, etc. areto be arranged in a server chassis.

In some embodiments, machine learning techniques may be used to identifytrends in server utilization metadata and to associate the identifiedtrends with application classes. In some embodiments, a server assemblycontroller may work in coordination with a machine learning service of aservice provider network in order to identify trends in serverutilization metadata. For example, a server assembly controller mayprovide server utilization metadata to a machine learning service, andthe machine learning service may provide identified trends and/orassociations with application classes back to the server assemblycontroller. In some embodiments, server utilization metadata forworkloads with known application classes may be provided to a machinelearning service, wherein the machine learning service uses theworkloads with known application classes to learn associations betweentrends in server utilization metadata and application classes. Forexample, a machine learning technique may be used to identify trends inserver utilization metadata for a workload of a known application class.The machine learning technique may associate the identified trends withthe known application class. Wherein, the determined (now known)association between the trends in server utilization metadata and theparticular application class can be used to determine applicationclasses of other workloads that indicate similar trends in serverutilization metadata, but for which the application class for the otherworkloads is not known.

In some embodiments, a server assembly controller or serverconfiguration selection system may utilize internal workloads ofservices of a provider network to learn associations between trends inserver utilization metadata and application classes, wherein applicationclasses are known for the internal workloads. The a server assemblycontroller or server configuration selection system may then utilize theknown associations that were learned from analyzing internal workloadsto determine application classes of external customer workloads, withoutknowledge of the application classes of the external customer workloadsand without access to the applications or application data of theexternal client workloads. In some embodiments, an external clientworkload may be a workload executed by a service of a provider networkon behalf of a client, wherein the execution takes places on resourcesof the provider network. In contrast, in some embodiments, an internalworkload may be a workload executed on behalf of the service provider,for example to manage a service of the service provider network.

In some embodiments, a server assembly controller may further identifytrends in a robot calibration process, a custom server assemblyprocesses, and/or a custom server validation process and correlate thesetrends with instances of custom server failures, assembly delays, orquality incidents. In some embodiments, a server assembly controller maydetermine adjustments to a robot calibration process, a server assemblyprocess, or a custom server validation process to reduce instances ofcustom server failures, assembly delays, or quality incidents. In someembodiments, a server assembly controller may utilize machine learningtechniques to perform such optimizations.

FIG. 24 illustrates a block diagram of a server assembly controller of aprovider network, a top view of a data center included in the providernetwork, and a server assembly systems for custom assembling servers forthe data center, according to some embodiments.

Server assembly controller 2402 includes a metadata collection interface2404 that may collect time-series metadata about already installedservers executing workloads similar to one or more workloads that are tobe executed on a yet-to-be assembled custom server. The collected serverutilization metadata may be stored and analyzed by a server utilizationtrend identification engine, such as server utilization trendidentification engine 2418. In some embodiments, a server utilizationtrend identification engine may be implemented by one or more computingdevices that implement a server assembly controller, such as serverassembly controller 2402, or may be implemented in a separate machinelearning service. Also, the collected server utilization metadata may bestored, for example as provider network server metadata 2406, powerconsumption metadata 2408, memory utilization metadata 2410, and/orother server component utilization metadata 2438. In some embodiments,provider network service metadata 2406 may indicate a particular serviceof a plurality of services offered by a service provider network thatthe workloads associated with the server utilization metadata arerelated to. For example, the provider network service metadata mayindicate that the server utilization metadata corresponds to a workloadexecuted by a computing execution service of a provider network, or adatabase service of a provider network, as a few examples.

In some embodiments, a server assembly controller may further include orhave access to a depository that stores known associations betweentrends in server utilization metadata and application classes. Forexample, server assembly controller 2402 includes a depository of knownassociations between server utilization trends and application classes2416. In some embodiments, a server assembly controller further includesa depository of supported server configurations, such as depository ofsupported server configurations 2422. In some embodiments, a depositoryof supported server configurations may store a list of possible serverconfigurations that may be assembled by robots of a server assemblysystem using parts that are stocked and available to the robots to useto assembled a custom server.

In some embodiments, a server assembly controller further includes acustom server configuration engine and a robot controller/interface. Forexample, server assembly controller 2402 includes robotcontroller/interface 2412.

In some embodiments, a server assembly controller may be implemented onone or more computing devices of a data center, such as data center2436. In some embodiments, a server assembly system, such as serverassembly system 2426 may be coupled to data center 2436 and may includerobots that receive a command from a server assembly controller andassemble a custom server for installation at a slot of a server mountingstructure, such as server mounting structure 2426, of the data center towhich the server assembly system is coupled. In some embodiments, robotsof the server assembly system may assemble the custom server using partsfrom a local parts storage, such as parts storage 2432. In someembodiments, a server assembly system, such as server assembly system1430 may be a portable server assembly system as described herein, ormay be a permanent or semi-permanent server assembly system.

In some embodiments, a server assembly controller, such as serverassembly controller 2402 may further include a user interface 2414,which may be similar to the user interfaces described in FIGS. 8-10. Insome embodiments, a client may specify one or more requested serverconfiguration via a user interface, such as user interface 2424, and acustom server configuration engine may cause a custom server having therequested configuration to be assembled. Also, a client or respectivemanagers of one or more services of a service provider network mayrequest one or more particular server configurations via an API, such asAPI to other services 2422, and a custom server configuration engine,such as custom server configuration engine 2410, may cause a customserver having the requested configuration to be assembled.

For example, custom server configuration engine 2420 may issue a command2428 to robots of server assembly system 2430 to assemble one or morecustom servers having a determined server configuration. In someembodiments, a command 2428 may be issued for robots to assemble acustom server autonomously or in coordination with one another.

FIG. 25 is a high-level flowchart illustrating various methods andtechniques for selecting custom server configurations based on trends inserver utilization metadata, according to some embodiments.

At 2502 a server assembly controller (or server configuration selectionservice) receives time-series server utilization metadata forapplications executing workloads on already placed servers, wherein theworkloads are similar to workloads that are to be executed on ayet-to-be assembled custom server. The server assembly controllerreceives the time-series server utilization metadata without access tothe application executing the workload and without access to applicationdata.

At 2504, the server assembly controller (or server configurationselection service) identifies server utilization trends in the serverutilization metadata. In some embodiments, machine learning may beemployed to identify trends in the server utilization metadata. Forexample, a server assembly controller may identify trends in powerconsumption by a server, trends in memory utilization, trends thatcorrelate across multiple servers, trends in utilization of other servercomponents, or other types of trends in server utilization metadata. Theidentification of the trends may be performed using the serverutilization metadata without access to applications or application datafor applications that are being executed on an already installed server.

At 2506, the server assembly controller (or server configurationselection service) determines application class(es) for the workloads,wherein the application class(es) correspond with the identified trends.The application class(es) may be determined based on comparing theidentified trends to one or more known trends that are associated withone or more particular application class(es). In some embodiments,machine learning may be used to determine new relationships betweenserver utilization trends and application classes, and new associationsassociating utilization trends to application classes may be added to astore of known associations.

At 2508, a custom server configuration is selected based on thedetermined application class. For example, an additional depository of aserver assembly controller more store an index of recommended serverconfigurations for different application classes. This index or othertype of data structure may be used to select a server configuration fora workload associated with a particular application class.

At 2510, the server assembly controller (or server configurationselection service) causes one or more robots at a data center locationto assemble a custom server having the selected custom serverconfiguration. In some embodiments, a server placement controller mayselect a placement location for the custom assembled server and causeone or more robots, an AIRS, or and ASRS to cause the custom server tobe installed in the selected placement location in a server mountingstructure of the data center.

FIG. 26 is a high-level flowchart illustrating various methods andtechniques for determining associations between server utilizationtrends and application classes, according to some embodiments.

In some embodiments, in order to determine associations between serverutilization trends and application classes, a server assembly controller(or server configuration selection service) may follow a process similarto the process outlined in FIG. 26.

For example, at 2602, a server assembly controller (or serverconfiguration selection service) receives utilization trends in serverutilization metadata, such as trends in time-series power consumptionmetadata, trends in time-series memory utilization metadata, etc. Insome embodiments, the utilization trends may have been determined by aserver utilization trend identification engine which may be implementedvia a machine learning service or may be a component of a serverassembly controller (or server configuration selection service).

At 2604, the server assembly controller (or server configurationselection service) also identifies application classes or receivesinformation indicating known application classes. For example, in someembodiments, in order to determine associations between utilizationtrends and application classes, a server assembly controller (or serverconfiguration selection service) may be provided server utilizationmetadata associated with workloads for known application classes. Theserver assembly controller (or server configuration selection service)may then correlate trends in the server utilization metadata toparticular ones of the application classes and add these knownassociations to a depository of known associations that can later beused to determine application classes for other workloads having similarserver utilization trends, wherein the application classes associatedwith the other workloads are not initially known. For example, at 2606,the server assembly controller (or server configuration selectionservice) applies machine learning techniques to determine theassociations between application classes and server utilization trends.In some embodiments, one or more server utilization trends may beassociated with one or more application classes. For example, a givenserver utilization trend may be associated with a broad applicationclass, such as a processor intense application class and may also beassociated with a more specific application class, such as a burstapplication class describing applications that require periodic burstsin processor utilization. In some embodiments, a general applicationclass may be considered a “bucket” comprising multiple more specificapplication classes. In some embodiments, a workload may be determined,based on identified server utilization trends, to be a workload for anapplication corresponding to multiple application classes, such as ageneral application class “bucket” and one or more specific applicationclasses with the more general application class “bucket.” In someembodiments, a machine learning service may initially determineassociations between trends in server utilization metadata for moregeneral application class “buckets” and may then determine additionalassociations between the trends in server utilization metadata and morespecific application class “sub-buckets.”

At 2608, the server assembly controller (or server configurationselection service) stores the determined associations betweenapplication classes and server utilization trends in a depository ofknown associations that is included in (or accessible to) the serverassembly controller (or server configuration selection service). Theseknown associations may be used by a server assembly controller (orserver configuration selection service) to determine application classesfor workloads having similar server utilization trends (without accessto the applications associated with the workloads).

At 2610, it is determined whether new server utilization trends orapplication classes are detected for workloads of interest. If so, theprocess repeats, if not, the process stops. For example, the process mayrepeat to determine additional associations between trends in serverutilization metadata and more specific application class “sub-buckets.”

In some embodiments, a process similar to the process described in FIG.26 may be used to determine associations between server utilizationtrends for workloads being executed on a group of servers andapplication classes, wherein the determined (and now known) associatesare later used by a server assembly controller to select server clusterconfigurations.

FIG. 27 is a high-level flowchart illustrating various methods andtechniques for determining associations between trends in robotcalibration, server assembly processes, server validation processes andresulting failures, according to some embodiments.

In some embodiments, a server assembly controller (or serverconfiguration selection service) may further perform one or moreoperations to improve assembly of custom servers. For example, acalibration, assembly, and validation optimizer, such as calibration,assembly and validation optimizer 2434, may perform a process similar tothe process shown in FIG. 27.

At 2702, a server assembly controller (or server configuration selectionservice) identifies trends in a robot calibration process. At 2704, theserver assembly controller (or server configuration selection service)identifies trends in a server assembly process. And, at 2706, the serverassembly controller (or server configuration selection service)identifies trends in a server validation process.

At 2708, the server assembly controller (or server configurationselection service) associates identified trends in calibration,assembly, and/or validation with instances of server failures, serverassembly delays, or server validation failures.

At 2710, the server assembly controller (or server configurationselection service) adjusts a robot calibration process, a serverassembly process, and/or a server validation process based on thedetermined associations between identified trends in calibration,assembly, and/or validation and the instances of server failures, serverassembly delays, or server validation failures. The adjustments may bemade to reduce instances of server failures, server assembly delays, orserver validation failures.

FIG. 28 is a high-level flowchart illustrating various methods andtechniques for determining whether to relocate a workload from anexisting server to a custom server, according to some embodiments.

In some embodiments, a server assembly controller (or serverconfiguration selection service) may balance costs and performance whendetermining whether or not to recommend a custom server for a particularworkload or set of workloads. For example, a server assembly controller(or server configuration selection service) may determine whether animprovement in efficiency will negatively impact performance or anextent to which a performance improvement will negatively impact cost ascompared to a current server configuration for a server currentlyexecuting the workload.

In some embodiments, performance may comprise computing performance,memory performance, storage performance, such as amount of data stored,transactions per second, etc., environmental performance (e.g. a “greenscore”), reliability of the custom server, etc. In some embodiments, anenvironmental performance or “green score” may rate a relative impactthe server configuration has on the environment.

In some embodiments, cots may comprise costs of the server (both partsand assembly costs), costs of operating the server (e.g. power, cooling,etc.), etc.

In some embodiments, performance as described herein, may be for asingle performance metric, such as computing performance, memoryperformance, etc., or may be a composite performance. For example, acomposite performance may comprise a weighted average of performancemetrics. For example, in a weighted average a reliability performancemetric may be given more weight than a storage transactions per secondperformance. In a similar manner, a cost as described herein, may be asingle cost performance metric, such as cost of parts, assembly andinstallation, or a composite costs such as a composite comprising bothupfront fixed costs and projected operating costs. In some embodiments,costs metrics of a composite cost may be weighted. For example, in someembodiments upfront fixed costs may be weighted more heavily thanprojected operating costs, or vice versa. In some embodiments, cost asdescribed herein may be a total lifetime cost of a particular serverconfiguration including upfront costs and on-going costs associated withownership and operation of a server having the custom serverconfiguration.

For example, at 2802 a server assembly controller (or serverconfiguration selection service) starts the analysis with a selectedserver configuration for a yet-to-be assembled custom server that wasselected based on a determined application class for the workload. Forexample, the selected configuration may be determined as described inFIG. 25.

At 2804, the server assembly controller (or server configurationselection service) determines whether the performance of the selectedserver configuration for the yet-to-be assembled custom server isgreater than or equal to the performance of a current serverconfiguration that is already placed and executing the workload. If theperformance of the selected server configuration for the yet-to-beassembled custom server is greater than the performance of the currentserver, at 1806, it is determined whether the cost of the selectedserver configuration for the yet-to-be assembled custom server is withina threshold amount relative to the cost of the current serverconfiguration that is already placed and executing the workload. If thecost exceeds the threshold, the workload is maintained, at 2810, on thecurrent server configuration and the server assembly controller does notrecommend or implement assembling a new custom server with the selectedconfiguration based on application class. If the cost is below thethreshold, the server assembly controller recommends, at 2808,assembling a custom server (or causes assembly of the custom server)having the selected configuration, selected based on the applicationclass of the workload.

If, at 2804, the performance of the selected configuration for theyet-to-be assembled custom server was less than the performance of thecurrent server configuration, the server assembly controller (or serverconfiguration selection service) determines at 2812 whether a costreduction for the yet-to-be assembled custom server having the selectedconfiguration is greater than a threshold amount. If the cost reductionis not greater than the threshold amount, the workload is maintained, at2818, on the current server configuration and the server assemblycontroller does not recommend or implement assembling a new customserver with the selected configuration based on application class.

If the cost reduction is greater than the threshold amount, at 2814, itis determined, at 2806, whether the performance of the yet-to-beassembled custom server will be within a threshold amount of theperformance of the currently placed server executing the workload. Ifthe performance is less than the threshold, the workload is maintainedon the current server configuration and the server assembly controllerdoes not recommend or implement assembling a new custom server with theselected configuration based on application class. If the cost reductionis greater than the threshold cost reduction and the performance is notless than the threshold difference as compared to the current serverconfiguration, the server assembly controller recommends, at 2816,assembling a custom server (or causes assembly of the custom server)having the selected configuration, selected based on application classof the workload. If the performance difference is more than thethreshold amount below the current server configuration, the workload ismaintained, at 2818, on the current server configuration and the serverassembly controller does not recommend or implement assembling a newcustom server with the selected configuration based on applicationclass.

Example Computing System

FIG. 29 is a block diagram illustrating an example computing system,according to some embodiments. For example, computer system 2900 may beconfigured to implement storage and/or compute nodes of a service of aprovider network, a server placement controller, a server assemblycontroller, a user interface, an API and/or a client, in differentembodiments. Computer system 2900 may be any of various types ofdevices, including, but not limited to, a personal computer system,desktop computer, laptop or notebook computer, mainframe computersystem, handheld computer, workstation, network computer, a consumerdevice, application server, storage device, telephone, mobile telephone,or in general any type of computing device.

Computer system 2900 includes one or more processors 2910 (any of whichmay include multiple cores, which may be single or multi-threaded)coupled to a system memory 2920 via an input/output (I/O) interface2930. Computer system 2900 further includes a network interface 2940coupled to I/O interface 2930. In various embodiments, computer system2900 may be a uniprocessor system including one processor 2910, or amultiprocessor system including several processors 2910 (e.g., two,four, eight, or another suitable number). Processors 2910 may be anysuitable processors capable of executing instructions. For example, invarious embodiments, processors 2910 may be general-purpose or embeddedprocessors implementing any of a variety of instruction setarchitectures (ISAs), such as the x86, PowerPC, SPARC, or MIPS ISAs, orany other suitable ISA. In multiprocessor systems, each of processors2910 may commonly, but not necessarily, implement the same ISA. Thecomputer system 2900 also includes one or more network communicationdevices (e.g., network interface 2940) for communicating with othersystems and/or components over a communications network (e.g. Internet,LAN, etc.).

In the illustrated embodiment, computer system 2900 also includes one ormore persistent storage devices 2960 and/or one or more I/O devices2980. In various embodiments, persistent storage devices 2960 maycorrespond to disk drives, tape drives, solid state memory, other massstorage devices, block-based storage devices, or any other persistentstorage device. Computer system 2900 (or a distributed application oroperating system operating thereon) may store instructions and/or datain persistent storage devices 2960, as desired, and may retrieve thestored instruction and/or data as needed. For example, in someembodiments, computer system 2900 may host a storage system server node,and persistent storage 2960 may include the SSDs attached to that servernode.

Computer system 2900 includes one or more system memories 2920 that areconfigured to store instructions and data accessible by processor(s)2910. In various embodiments, system memories 2920 may be implementedusing any suitable memory technology, (e.g., one or more of cache,static random access memory (SRAM), DRAM, RDRAM, EDO RAM, DDR 10 RAM,synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), Rambus RAM, EEPROM,non-volatile/Flash-type memory, or any other type of memory). Systemmemory 2920 may contain program instructions 2925 that are executable byprocessor(s) 2910 to implement the methods and techniques describedherein. In various embodiments, program instructions 2925 may be encodedin platform native binary, any interpreted language such as Java™byte-code, or in any other language such as C/C++, Java™, etc., or inany combination thereof. For example, in the illustrated embodiment,program instructions 2925 include program instructions executable toimplement the functionality of a resource host, in differentembodiments. In some embodiments, program instructions 2925 mayimplement multiple separate clients, nodes, and/or other components.

In some embodiments, program instructions 2925 may include instructionsexecutable to implement an operating system (not shown), which may beany of various operating systems, such as UNIX, LINUX, Solaris™, MacOS™,Windows™, etc. Any or all of program instructions 2925 may be providedas a computer program product, or software, that may include anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereoninstructions, which may be used to program a computer system (or otherelectronic devices) to perform a process according to variousembodiments. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium mayinclude any mechanism for storing information in a form (e.g., software,processing application) readable by a machine (e.g., a computer).Generally speaking, a non-transitory computer-accessible medium mayinclude computer-readable storage media or memory media such as magneticor optical media, e.g., disk or DVD/CD-ROM coupled to computer system2900 via I/O interface 2930. A non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium may also include any volatile or non-volatile media such as RAM(e.g. SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, RDRAM, SRAM, etc.), ROM, etc., that may beincluded in some embodiments of computer system 2900 as system memory2920 or another type of memory. In other embodiments, programinstructions may be communicated using optical, acoustical or other formof propagated signal (e.g., carrier waves, infrared signals, digitalsignals, etc.) conveyed via a communication medium such as a networkand/or a wireless link, such as may be implemented via network interface2940.

In some embodiments, system memory 2920 may include data store 2945,which may be configured as described herein. In general, system memory2920 (e.g., data store 2945 within system memory 2920), persistentstorage 2960, and/or remote storage 2970 may store data blocks, replicasof data blocks, metadata associated with data blocks and/or their state,configuration information, and/or any other information usable inimplementing the methods and techniques described herein.

In one embodiment, I/O interface 2930 may be configured to coordinateI/O traffic between processor 2910, system memory 2920 and anyperipheral devices in the system, including through network interface2940 or other peripheral interfaces. In some embodiments, I/O interface2930 may perform any necessary protocol, timing or other datatransformations to convert data signals from one component (e.g., systemmemory 2920) into a format suitable for use by another component (e.g.,processor 2910). In some embodiments, I/O interface 2930 may includesupport for devices attached through various types of peripheral buses,such as a variant of the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) busstandard or the Universal Serial Bus (USB) standard, for example. Insome embodiments, the function of I/O interface 2930 may be split intotwo or more separate components, such as a north bridge and a southbridge, for example. Also, in some embodiments, some or all of thefunctionality of I/O interface 2930, such as an interface to systemmemory 2920, may be incorporated directly into processor 2910.

Network interface 2940 may be configured to allow data to be exchangedbetween computer system 2900 and other devices attached to a network,such as other computer systems 2990, for example. In addition, networkinterface 2940 may be configured to allow communication between computersystem 2900 and various I/O devices 2950 and/or remote storage 2970.Input/output devices 2950 may, in some embodiments, include one or moredisplay terminals, keyboards, keypads, touchpads, scanning devices,voice or optical recognition devices, or any other devices suitable forentering or retrieving data by one or more computer systems 2900.Multiple input/output devices 2950 may be present in computer system2900 or may be distributed on various nodes of a distributed system thatincludes computer system 2900. In some embodiments, similar input/outputdevices may be separate from computer system 2900 and may interact withone or more nodes of a distributed system that includes computer system2900 through a wired or wireless connection, such as over networkinterface 2940. Network interface 2940 may commonly support one or morewireless networking protocols (e.g., Wi-Fi/IEEE 802.11, or anotherwireless networking standard). However, in various embodiments, networkinterface 2940 may support communication via any suitable wired orwireless general data networks, such as other types of Ethernetnetworks, for example. Additionally, network interface 2940 may supportcommunication via telecommunications/telephony networks such as analogvoice networks or digital fiber communications networks, via storagearea networks such as Fibre Channel SANs, or via any other suitable typeof network and/or protocol. In various embodiments, computer system 2900may include more, fewer, or different components than those illustratedin FIG. 29 (e.g., displays, video cards, audio cards, peripheraldevices, other network interfaces such as an ATM interface, an Ethernetinterface, a Frame Relay interface, etc.)

It is noted that any of the distributed system embodiments describedherein, or any of their components, may be implemented as one or morenetwork-based services. For example, a compute cluster within acomputing service may present computing and/or storage services and/orother types of services that employ the distributed computing systemsdescribed herein to clients as network-based services. In someembodiments, a network-based service may be implemented by a softwareand/or hardware system designed to support interoperablemachine-to-machine interaction over a network. A network-based servicemay have an interface described in a machine-processable format, such asthe Web Services Description Language (WSDL). Other systems may interactwith the network-based service in a manner prescribed by the descriptionof the network-based service's interface. For example, the network-basedservice may define various operations that other systems may invoke, andmay define a particular application programming interface (API) to whichother systems may be expected to conform when requesting the variousoperations. though

In various embodiments, a network-based service may be requested orinvoked through the use of a message that includes parameters and/ordata associated with the network-based services request. Such a messagemay be formatted according to a particular markup language such asExtensible Markup Language (XML), and/or may be encapsulated using aprotocol such as Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP). To perform anetwork-based services request, a network-based services client mayassemble a message including the request and convey the message to anaddressable endpoint (e.g., a Uniform Resource Locator (URL))corresponding to the network-based service, using an Internet-basedapplication layer transfer protocol such as Hypertext Transfer Protocol(HTTP).

In some embodiments, network-based services may be implemented usingRepresentational State Transfer (“RESTful”) techniques rather thanmessage-based techniques. For example, a network-based serviceimplemented according to a RESTful technique may be invoked throughparameters included within an HTTP method such as PUT, GET, or DELETE,rather than encapsulated within a SOAP message.

Although the embodiments above have been described in considerabledetail, numerous variations and modifications may be made as wouldbecome apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure isfully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims beinterpreted to embrace all such modifications and changes and,accordingly, the above description to be regarded in an illustrativerather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a data center comprising aserver mounting structure comprising a plurality of slots configured toaccept installation of a server; and a portable server assembly systemcomprising: a container positioned proximate to the data center; and aplurality of robots configured to custom assemble servers to beinstalled in the slots of the server mounting structure, wherein thecontainer is configured to stow the plurality of robots for relocationof the portable server assembly system to another data center.
 2. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the container is an international standardsorganization (ISO) compliant shipping container configured to betransported via road, rail, air, or water to the other data center. 3.The system of claim 1, wherein the data center further comprises anautomated installation and retrieval system (AIRS) configured to installthe custom assembled servers in respective slots of the server mountingstructure.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the AIRS comprises: a tracksystem that spans multiple aisles of the data center; and a liftingdevice coupled to the track system, wherein the lifting device isconfigured to traverse the track system.
 5. The system of claim 4,wherein the data center, the plurality of robots, and the AIRS areconfigured such that the custom assembled servers are assembled andinstalled in respective slots of the server mounting structure withouthuman intervention.
 6. A portable server assembly system comprising: acontainer structure configured to be transported from a first datacenter location to another data center location; and a plurality ofrobots configured to custom assemble servers to be installed at thefirst data center location or the other data center location, whereinthe container structure is configured to stow the plurality of robotsfor relocation of the portable server assembly system from the firstdata center location to the other data center location.
 7. The portableserver assembly system of claim 6, wherein the container structurecomprises: a first end configured to couple with a loading dock of thefirst data center or the other data center; and a second end configuredto couple with another container comprising parts for assembling thecustom assembled servers.
 8. The portable server assembly system ofclaim 6, wherein the container structure comprises a parts storagesection comprising parts for assembling the custom assembled servers. 9.The portable server assembly system of claim 8, further comprising aconveyance configured to move parts from the parts storage section torespective ones of the plurality of robots.
 10. The portable serverassembly system of claim 9, wherein respective ones of the plurality ofrobots are configured to coordinate with one another to assemble acustom assembled server via an assembly line process.
 11. The portableserver assembly system of claim 6, wherein respective ones of the robotsare configured to assemble a custom assembled server autonomously. 12.The portable server assembly system of claim 11, further comprising acontroller configured to: command respective ones of the robots toassemble custom servers autonomously in response to a custom serverdemand comprising low volumes of multiple types of custom servers; andcommand the respective ones of the robots to coordinate with one anotherto assemble custom servers via an assembly line, in response to thecustom server demand comprising high volumes of particular types ofcustom servers.
 13. The portable server assembly system of claim 12,wherein respective ones of the robots are configured to move within thecontainer structure and an attached data center.
 14. The portable serverassembly system of claim 13, wherein the respective ones of the robotsare configured to place a custom assembled server in a slot of a servermounting structure of the attached data center.
 15. The portable serverassembly system of claim 6, wherein the container structure comprisesdocking stations for securing the plurality of robots during relocationof the portable server assembly system.
 16. A method comprising:positioning a container of a portable server assembly system at a datacenter location; and assembling custom assembled servers at the datacenter location via one or more robots of the portable server assemblysystem, wherein the one or more robots are stored in the container ofthe portable server assembly system when transporting the portableserver assembly system to or from the data center location.
 17. Themethod of claim 16, further comprising: redeploying the portable serverassembly to another data center location, wherein said redeployingcomprises: stowing the plurality of robots in the container of theportable server assembly system; transporting the portable serverassembly system to the other data center location; positioning thecontainer of the portable server assembly system at the other datacenter location; and assembling custom assembled servers at the otherdata center location via the one or more robots of the portable serverassembly system.
 18. The method of claim 16, further comprising:installing, by one of the robots, one of the custom assembled servers ina slot of a server mounting structure at the data center location. 19.The method of claim 16, wherein assembling the custom assembled serverscomprises: the one or more robots assembling the custom assembledservers autonomously, in response to a custom server demand comprisinglow volumes of multiple types of custom servers; or the one or morerobots coordinating with one another to assemble the custom assembledservers via an assembly line, in response to the custom server demandcomprising high volumes of particular types of custom servers.
 20. Themethod of claim 16, further comprising: one of the one or more robotsproviding a custom assembled server to an automated installation andretrieval system (AIRS), wherein the AIRS inserts the custom assembledserver in a slot of a server mounting structure at the data centerlocation.